NEWS RELEASE
FROM:Julie K.O. Trotter, Tobacco-Free Projects Coordinator
Chippewa County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition Coordinator
Donna Norkoli, Sault Tribe Community Health Educator
SUBJECT:Children Need Smoke-free Air Campaign
CONTACT:Julie K.O. Trotter, 635-3636
Donna Norkoli, 635-8844
DATE:June 28, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Children Need Smoke-Free Air Campaign Beginning in Chippewa County
The Steps to a Healthier Anishinaabe Program at the Sault Tribe Community Health Services, the Chippewa County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, and the Eastern U.P. Asthma Coalition have joined together to kick off a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of secondhand smoke to children. These agencies will be distributing Children Need Smoke-free Air Packets filled with information about how to protect your children from secondhand smoke.
According to Cathy Melvin, PhD at Dartmouth Medical School, annually, almost 6000 children under the age of 5 die unnecessarily because of second-hand smoke. When both parents smoke, infants are three times more likely to die of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Breathing in tobacco smoke causes increased throat infections, increased rates of asthma, coughing, pneumonia, and ear infections. If an infant regularly breathes secondhand smoke, it may hurt lung growth and may cause a permanent decrease in lung function.
Julie Trotter, Tobacco-Free Projects Coordinator of the Chippewa Co Health Department states, “ Many people continue to underestimate the health dangers of exposure to secondhand smoke. The 2006 Surgeon General’s Report provides startling information about the health effects of secondhand smoke in children.”
Children are Hurt by Secondhand Smoke
§ Secondhand smoke contains more than 250 chemicals known to be toxic or carcinogenic (cancer-causing), including formaldehyde, benzene, vinyl chloride, arsenic, ammonia, and hydrogen cyanide. Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke are inhaling many of the same cancer-causing substances and poisons as smokers.
Health Effects of Secondhand Smoke in Children
§ Because their bodies are developing, infants and young children are especially vulnerable to the poisons in secondhand smoke.
§ Both babies whose mothers smoke while pregnant and babies who are exposed to secondhand smoke after birth are more likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) than babies who are not exposed to cigarette smoke.
§ Mothers who are exposed to secondhand smoke while pregnant are more likely to have lower birth weight babies, which makes babies weaker and increases the risk for many health problems.
§ Babies whose mothers smoke while pregnant or who are exposed to secondhand smoke after birth have weaker lungs than other babies, which increase the risk for many health problems.
§ Secondhand smoke exposure causes acute lower respiratory infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia in infants and young children.
§ Secondhand smoke exposure causes children who already have asthma to experience more frequent and severe attacks.
§ Secondhand smoke exposure causes respiratory symptoms, including cough, phlegm, wheeze, and breathlessness, among school-aged children.
§ Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at increased risk for ear infections and are more likely to need an operation to insert ear tubes for drainage.
Exposure to Secondhand Smoke Among Children
§ The Surgeon General has concluded that there is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke exposure. Even brief exposures can be harmful.
§ On average, children are exposed to more secondhand smoke than nonsmoking adults.
§ Based on levels of cotinine (a biological marker of secondhand smoke exposure), an estimated 22 million children aged 3-11 years and 18 million youth aged 12-19 years, were exposed to secondhand smoke in the United States in 2000.
§ Children aged 3-11 years and youth aged 12-19 years are significantly more likely than adults to live in a household with at least one smoker.
§ Children aged 3-11 years have cotinine levels more than twice as high as nonsmoking adults.
§ Children who live in homes where smoking is allowed have higher cotinine levels than children who live in homes where smoking is not allowed.
If you smoke in your home or car, your child is breathing in your smoke. The nicotine from secondhand smoke can even be found in the urine of children exposed. Even hours after you can no longer see the smoke, harmful chemicals remain on clothing, furniture, and in the air. These chemicals are cancer causing and toxic.
“We need to get this message out to as many parents of young children as we can,” stated Donna Norkoli, Sault Tribe Community Health Educator. “Initially, we will be distributing our information through the Sault Tribe Child Care Center and the Sault Tribe Head Start Program, and will be inquiring about distribution to other agencies and programs in our area serving young children in the upcoming months.
Barb Gravelle, Sault Tribe Youth Services Coordinator arranged for a group of Youth Education and Activities (YEA) members to help assemble the smoke-free air information packets. These volunteers were excited to be able to help out and make a difference in the health of young children in our community,” stated Gravelle.
For more information about the Children Need Smoke-free Air Campaign or to receive a free packet, please contact Donna Norkoli at Sault Tribe Community Health at 635-8844 or Julie Trotter at the Chippewa County Health Department at 632-3636.
Photo: Barb Gravelle and Donna Norkoli of the Sault Tribe assemble Children Need Smoke-free Air Packets with the assistance of the Youth Education and Activities members