Research carried out by a team from Dublin City University (DCU) shows that one in five young smokers are overweight or obese.  The details of this research were revealed by Dr Catherine Woods today (Thursday, 31 May) at the Office of Tobacco Control’s (OTC) conference, Children, Youth and Tobacco: Causes, Consequences and Action, in Dublin’s Croke Park.

Dr Woods’s presentation reported on the Take PART (Physical Activity Research for Teenagers) study, which collected data from a representative sample of 4,720 pupils in public and private post-primary schools.  The study compared exercise patterns, athletic participation, cardiorespiratory fitness, body mass index and blood pressure of  smokers and nonsmokers.  

“Our research shows that non-smoking young people are significantly fitter than those who smoke.  Young men who have inactive lifestyles are 62% more likely to smoke, while inactive young women are 27% more likely than their active peers. 

“Our findings in relation to participation in athletics reinforce this message.  Male non-athletes were 58% more likely to smoke than athletic counterparts, while female non-athletes were 43% more likely to smoke than their athletic peers.”

Professor Luke Clancy, Director General, Research Institute for a Tobacco Free Society, explained that for some children, their exposure to cigarette smoke begins in the womb.

“The consequences range from the possibility of stillbirth, to low birth weight, premature delivery, increased risk of serious health problems during the newborn period and may lead to life long disabilities. Clearly, smoking cessation aimed at pregnant women should be increased. 

“When exposure continues after birth, the results are also serious, including increased incidence of lower respiratory tract illness such as bronchitis, pneumonia, increased ear infections and a very significant increase in SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome).  There is also an increased risk of developing asthma, which is a very common and important disease in children. Exposure to second hand smoke in later childhood is associated with an increase in respiratory symptoms such as cough, phlegm and also upper respiratory symptoms.

“When children begin active smoking they often develop increased symptoms such as cough, phlegm and wheeze as well as increased risk of infection and decreased pulmonary function.  With active and passive smoking, children start their journey towards the known risks of smoking in adults, which include lung cancer, heart attacks, chronic bronchitis and strokes.  The risk arising from smoking in the home must be emphasised and the banning of smoking in confined spaces such as cars would also help reduce this unnecessary morbidity.”
 
Speaking at the same conference, Maurice Mulcahy, Principal Environmental Health Officer, with the HSE based in Galway warned that many smoking parents may be unwittingly exposing their children to second hand smoke.

“Many conscientious smoking parents don’t smoke while a child is in the same room as them, however, many have a cigarette when their children are out of the way, such as when they have gone to bed.  However, adults need to be aware that smoke migrates from one room to the next and can, in fact, affect their children.  We conducted an experiment recently and we established that it took 18 seconds for smoke to get from one room to the next – 18 feet away – after the door was opened.  The answer for parents who want to protect their children is clear – either quit smoking or smoke outdoors.”

Professor Martin Jarvis, Health Behaviour Unit, University College, London, explained that children from deprived backgrounds are more heavily exposed to tobacco smoke from conception onwards. 

“Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are born into a smoky world and one where smoking is modelled as the norm.  They try their first cigarette earlier, and a clear socio-economic gradient in both prevalence and dependence is evident by at least age 16.  In addition, smoking in adolescence may be an indicator of later downward social mobility.  Addressing the link between children’s smoking and deprivation cannot be done in isolation, but requires an approach that considers smoking at all ages and in society as a whole.”