Cigarette smoke is six times more damaging to girls than boys, according to a new study done by Dokuz Eylül University. Professor Oğuz Kılınç from the Department of Chest Diseases at İzmir’s Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Medicine said the 10-year study examined the effects of tobacco smoke on newborns and children as old as 2-years-old.
Speaking to Anatolia news agency, Kılınç said University of Cincinnati researchers found lung function in girls exposed to tobacco smoke was six times worse than in boys with the same levels of smoke exposure and allergy sensitivity.
“Passive smoking begins in a mother’s womb,” he said. “If the mother is smoking while she is pregnant the baby cannot be nourished enough and is born under weight. This increases the risk of disease.”
Kılınç said children whose lung function lowered due to passive smoking increase their risk of catching many diseases such as asthma.
As dangerous as bungee jumping
Smoking during pregnancy can cause birth defects he said. “I tell families who smoke next to their children that they expose a very precious thing to 4,000 chemical materials. This cannot be forgiven. They cause chronic disease. This is as dangerous as bungee jumping.”
The study, which involved 476 kids, also found children exposed to high levels of secondhand smoke and who had allergic sensitizations at age 2 had a higher risk of decreased lung function at age 7.
“Our study shows that the timing of allergic sensitization is crucial because children who are sensitized by age 2 are more likely to suffer the greatest lung deficits during childhood as a result of secondhand smoke exposure,” said researcher Kelly Brunst.
