Secondhand smoke risks underestimated
About 360,000 Kentucky children are exposed to secondhand smoke every day in their homes, putting them at risk for everything from asthma to ear infections to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Advertisement
That’s the word from researchers at the University of Kentucky, who found that many parents are unaware of such dangers when they light up.
A UK HealthCare survey highlighted Thursday found that nearly 1.6 million Kentuckians underestimate the dangers of secondhand smoke, and 45 percent of homes with children had at least one adult who didn’t believe it was a serious health hazard. To change such perceptions, UK HealthCare helped launch a state-wide, five-year campaign Thursday featuring educational materials, a school-based program, an interactive Web site, and radio and television public service announcements with John Calipari, UK’s head basketball coach.
“We know secondhand smoke is a silent killer, and a lot of people, based on our data, still don’t believe it,” said Ellen Hahn, director of UK’s Tobacco Policy Research Program and Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy. “The whole purpose of this campaign is to ratchet up awareness.”
Kentucky consistently has one of the highest adult smoking rates in the nation, with federal data showing that 25.2 percent of Kentucky adults were smokers in 2008.
Kristin Morse, a Lexington nurse, was one of them until she became pregnant with her daughter Madison Johnson, who will be 5 years old in October. Morse said she suffered an earlier miscarriage, and was worried about carrying Madison to term and ensuring she was born healthy and remained so. She also has three stepsons, she said, and her husband has quit smoking, too.
But Morse said she sees many parents through her nursing job who haven’t gotten the message about smoking.
“A lot of kids who come in here have asthma and things like that. And we know the parents are smokers,” said Morse, 31, who called the awareness campaign a good idea.
The campaign includes several partners, such as Appalachian Regional Healthcare and the Kentucky Department for Public Health — and Hahn said organizers are looking for more, including some in the Louisville area.
Hahn said she hopes the effort changes the statistics found in the Internet survey, which was conducted early this year and had 477 respondents, 213 with children under 18 in the household. For example, it found that 20 percent with children had someone smoke inside the home in the past 30 days.
According to a U.S. surgeon general’s report, secondhand smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals and causes an estimated 46,000 heart disease deaths and 3,000 lung cancer deaths a year.
“While most people know that secondhand smoke is bad for their health, a surprising percentage stated on our survey that it has at most a moderate impact,” Hahn said. “Unfortunately, the health consequences of exposure to secondhand smoke are worse than what many people estimate.”
Reporter Laura Ungar can be reached at (502) 582-7190.
