1. Breathe Easy An initiative to clean up the air for our children The National Health Institute 1 3/29/10
2. NHI’s Breath-Easy Initiative An outgrowth of NHI’s commitment to health and wellness Spearheaded by parents, who want cleaner air for their children Encourage people to reduce air pollution indoors and outdoors Newsletters Conferences Seminars Promotional materials Special task force targets smokers because of the harmful effects of secondhand smoke 3/29/10 2
3. What is Secondhand Smoke Smoke exhaled by a smoker Smoke from the burning end of cigarettes, cigars, and pipes Composed of nearly 4,000 different chemicals and chemical components Often called involuntary smoking or passive smoking 3/29/10 3
4. Why Should Parents Be Concerned? Effects on lungs Children who breath secondhand smoke are more likely to suffer from pneumonia, bronchitis, and other lung diseases. Ear infections Children who breath secondhand smoke can have more ear infections. Asthma Children who breath secondhand smoke have more asthma attacks and the episodes can be more severe. Secondhand smoke causes healthy children to develop asthma each year. 3/29/10 4
5. Secondhand Smoke is a Health Risk to the Unborn Child Miscarriage Premature birth Low birth weight Sudden infant death syndrome 3/29/10 5
6. Living With a Smoker Makes a Child More Likely to Smoke 3/29/10 6
8. Did You Know That…? Infants whose mothers smoked were 38 percent more likely to be admitted to the hospital for bronchitis and pneumonia. Children living in households where more than three packs of cigarettes were smoked per day were four times more likely to be hospitalized for ear tubes. Children younger than one year whose mothers smoked were four times more likely to be hospitalized. 3/29/10 8
9. Children of Smokers Cough and wheeze more and have a harder time getting over colds Get more sore throats and colds Get eye irritations and hoarseness 3/29/10 9
