Research shows children exposed to secondhand smoke in cars (Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, MedPage.com)
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The December 2012 issue of Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, published a study by researcher Jonathan Winickoff, MD, MPH, of Massachusetts General Hospital for Children in Boston, and his colleagues who surveyed 795 parents about smoking in cars when children are present. 73% said they or someone else smoked in the car in the prior three months. Of the 562 parents not having a smoke-free car policy, 48% of these parents smoking in the car when their children were present. Fewer than one in three parents (29%) reported having a smoke-free car policy, with only 24% reported having a strictly enforced (no tobacco in the prior three months) smoke-free car policy.
The researchers concluded that the majority of smoking parents exposed their children to tobacco smoke in cars, and there is a need for for improved pediatric interventions, public health campaigns, and policies regarding smoke-free car laws to protect children from tobacco smoke. The researchers examined exit interviews with smokers who served as controls as part of the larger Clinical Effort Against Secondhand Smoke Exposure, a pediatric office-based intervention trial in eight states. Read a November 12, 2012 news clip from medpage.com.