Children are losing millions of healthy years to secondhand smoke – study

New research shows children across the globe are losing over 8.4 million years of healthy life due to exposure to secondhand smoke. 

The research was presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress in Amsterdam today (30th September).

To conduct the study, which is the first of its kind, experts analysed data from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBDS) and calculated how many years of healthy life were lost due to secondhand smoke in children aged between 0 to 14. The analysis covered the period from 1990 to 2021. 

The GBDS measured health impacts using something called a DALY, which stands for disability-adjusted life year. It shows how many years of healthy life are lost when someone becomes ill, lives with a disability, or dies too young. One DALY equates to one year of good health lost.

Dr Siyu Dai, lead author of the study and honorary research associate in the Department of Paediatrics at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, said: ‘Secondhand smoke is a major contributor to preventable illness and death in children and there is no safe exposure level. It is linked to chest infections, cardiovascular disease, and neurodevelopmental problems and makes asthma symptoms worse.

‘Young children are especially susceptible because their bodies and lungs are still developing and they have little control over their own environments.’

The research found that in 2021 alone secondhand smoke was linked to:

• 3.79 million DALYs from lower respiratory infections such as pneumonia and bronchitis,

• 0.80 million from ear infections, and

• 3.86 million from other chest infections including tuberculosis.

What’s more, children living in poorer countries were discovered to be worse affected, with over 300 losing healthy years per 100,000, compared to fewer than 11 in wealthier countries.

Dr Dai explained the contrast ‘likely reflects a combination of factors such as lower public awareness about the dangers of secondhand smoke, more overcrowded and poorly ventilated homes, and weaker tobacco control policies. These conditions may lead to higher exposure for children.’ 

Dr Filippos Filippidis, chair of the European Respiratory Society’s tobacco control committee, who was not involved in the research, added: ‘This study quantifies the enormous harm children are suffering from secondhand smoke around the world. It is a wake up call that we need to do much more to protect children. In particular, we need to create and enforce laws that limit smoking in places where children live or go to school. However, the most efficient approach is to reduce smoking across all age groups, which would substantially limit second-hand smoke exposure for children as well.’

Photo by Andres Siimon via UnSplash