Reduction of Secondhand Smoke Effects on Children - Essay Example

Reduction of Secondhand Smoke Effects on Children Rodney Biggs South Reduction of Secondhand Smoke Effects on Children Background and Significance The baseline for this problem; There must be an active smoker in order to have second hand smoke exposure, especially on children (Ullah, Huque, Akter, Nasreen, Akter, Thomson, Cameron, Newell, J., & Siddiqi, 2013). Tobacco smoking is a major health hazard affecting all the social classes in the society. What most people do not understand is that secondhand smoke is as harmful as the active smoke. Parents, who smoke in the presence of their kids whether in the family cars or at home, are the most significant sources of secondhand smoke. Some children use public service vehicles for transport to school. In some of these buses passengers smoke therefore exposing them to secondhand smoke (Best, 2009). Given the addictive nature of tobacco due to nicotine, young smokers find it difficult to drop the smoking habits (Öberg, Jaakkola, Prüss-Üstün, Schweizer, & Woodward, 2010). Such people end up smoking even after marriage. When the kids come, they expose them to secondhand smoke which is equally harmful as the primary smoke. Some of these parents, especially the street mothers, end up exposing one-day-old neonates to secondhand smoke. The other major players in the widespread use of tobacco are the tobacco manufacturers and advertisers. These industries are in a competition and everyone is fighting for a bigger share of the market. As a result of the cut-throat competition, they design adverts that encourage people to smoke. The law requires that information about the harmful effects of smoking be clearly indicated in the packets. What they fail to understand is that not everyone is informed enough to understand the printed information. However, the challenge is; most of the warnings about tobacco smoking do not factor in dangers of secondhand smoke exposure (Öberg, et al. 2010). Given the widespread smoking of tobacco, the incidences of secondhand smoke exposure has risen, hence the need for more practical approaches to solve the problem. There is need for a holistic plan that involves everyone in the society, from the parents, manufacturers, teachers, the government, other members of the public and the children themselves. An all-inclusive strategy would be desirable as it will make every single person take a responsibility to reduce secondhand smoke exposure (Siddiqi, Sarmad, Usmani, Kanwal, Thomson, & Cameron, 2010). Statement of the Problem Presently, tobacco smoking is one of the leading causes of preventable morbidities and mortalities around the world. Cases of lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stunted growth, among others, have been on the rise. The effects are the same when secondhand smoke exposure occurs. The disease conditions are even worse when the culprits of secondhand smoke exposure are children. Adverts posted in the media have made smoking become more acceptable in the society. Parents who take their children to clubs and bars where people smoke, make the secondhand smoke exposure even worse. There have been reports of baby sitters who smoke close to young children. This mostly occurs without the knowledge of their parents which makes it even more dangerous. Such children will be suffering silently because they cannot express themselves (Siddiqi, et al. 2010). Purpose of the Study A survey carried out by Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that tobacco smoking is responsible for over four hundred and thirty thousand deaths each year in the US. This study was only done on active smokers. This means secondhand smoke exposure is not considered important, yet it is silently killing people. This study is aimed at finding out the reasons why there has been a rise in secondhand tobacco smoke exposure on children. The role of every person and aspect of the human society will be investigated to find out their contribution to this vice (Carlsson, Johansson, Hermansson, & Andersson-Gäre, 2011). This is because every person who smokes is a potential source of secondhand smoke to children. After finding out the contributions of every sector of the society, an effective and an all-inclusive strategy can be designed to reduce secondhand smoke exposure to children. Research Question The research question for this paper is: Are smoking parents the main source of secondhand smoke exposure on children? Research and Null Hypotheses A research hypothesis is one that is usually derived from theory and enables us to make predictions about the outcome of an event or action. There is usually an independent variable that affects a number of dependent variables. In this study the research hypothesis is; smoking parents are the major source of secondhand smoke exposure on children. The independent variable is smoking parents. If the study is carried out and results indicate towards this direction, then, the research hypothesis will be adopted as true. A null hypothesis on the other hand negates the relationship. In this study the null hypothesis is; smoking parents are not the major source of secondhand smoke exposure. It says that the fluctuations seen in secondhand smoke exposure patterns are not due to smoking parents but by other factors. In order to get the clear picture, a statistical study will be done to determine the reasons for the rise in secondhand smoke exposure. Operationalization of Study Variables The study variables include the following; 1. Age; tobacco is considered a social drug that is meant for use by certain age groups in different societies, especially the old. In other societies it is a party drug. This results in variation of secondhand smoke exposure to children depending on the society of interest (Harutyunyan, Movsisyan, Petrosyan, Petrosyan, & Stillman, 2013). 2. Socio-cultural and religious beliefs; tobacco smoking is considered sacred by some religions like the Buddhists. When smoked in the temples, tobacco is believed to provide divine intervention. The level of secondhand smoke exposure on children therefore depends on the beliefs of a given society (Siddiqi, et al. 2010). 3. Income; there different tobacco products with different levels of secondhand smoke exposure. The expensive ones have a lower risk while the cheaper have a higher risk (Siddiqi, et al. 2010). Extraneous variable 1. Peer Pressure: some children are victims of peer influence to engage in smoking and identify with friends. This increases risk of exposure to the smoke-related infections 2. Parental care: limited parental guidance on the effects of smoking poses significant challenge in helping the potential young victims.It is therefore important to underscore the input of such social deficiency in explaining the behavior of the child. References Best, D. (2009). Secondhand and prenatal tobacco smoke exposure. Retrieved from: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/124/5/e1017. Carlsson, N., Johansson A., Hermansson, G., & Andersson-Gäre, B. (2011). Parents’ attitudes to smoking and passive smoking and their experience of the tobacco preventive work in child health care. Retrieved from: bmjopen.bmj.com/cgi/ijlink?linkType=ABST&journalCode=spchc&resid=15/4/272 Harutyunyan, A., Movsisyan, N., Petrosyan, V., Petrosyan, D., & Stillman, F. (2013). Reducing children’s exposure to secondhand smoke at home: A randomized trial. Retrieved from: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/132/6/1071. Öberg, M., Jaakkola, M., Prüss-Üstün, A., Schweizer, C., & Woodward, A. (2010). Second-hand smoke assessing the burden of disease at national and local levels. Environmental Burden of Disease Series 18. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2010. Retrieved from: http://www.who.int/quantifying_ehimpacts/publications/ebd18/en/ Siddiqi, K., Sarmad, R., Usmani, R. A., Kanwal, A., Thomson, H., & Cameron, I. (2010). Smoke-free homes: an intervention to reduce second-hand smoke exposure in households. The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 14(10), 1336-1341. Ullah, A., Huque, R., Akter, S., Nasreen, S., Akter, H., Thomson, H., Cameron, I., Newell, J., & Siddiqi, K. (2013). Childrens exposure to second-hand smoke at home in Bangladesh: A community survey. Retrieved from: http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/3/11/e003059.full Read More