title: Parents' educational level and second-hand tobacco smoke exposure at home in a sample of Portuguese children.
abstract: Second-hand tobacco smoke (SHS) exposure is a major and entirely avoidable health risk for children's health, well-being and development. The main objective of the current study was to investigate the association between parents' educational level and children's SHS home exposure. A self-administered questionnaire was conducted within a sample of 949 students in 4th grade (mean age 9.56±0.75, 53.4% male). The sample was randomly selected from all schools located at Lisbon District, Portugal. The current study confirmed that Portuguese children are exposed to unacceptable high levels of SHS at home, mainly by their parents' smoke. Prevalence of smokers was higher amongst parents with low educational level. Children of parents with low educational level were more likely to suffer SHS exposure at home. These results confirmed the social inequalities associated with smoking, support the relevance of more research on this subject and stress the need for more interventions to control this problem. Some interventions should be specifically aimed at less educated parents, particularly at less educated mothers.
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade da Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal; CIS-IUL, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Lisboa, Portugal. Electronic address: pvitoria@fcsaude.ubi.pt.
authors.forename: Paulo D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Vitória
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Matemática e Centro de Matemática e Aplicações, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade da Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal.
authors.forename: Célia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nunes
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Educação, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, Braga, Portugal.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Precioso
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019570:Inhalation Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution
keywords: Air pollution; Health promotion; Parenting; Pediatrics; Poverty; Preventive medicine; Public health practice; Risk factors; Smoking; Tobacco