Cigarette smoking and secondhand exposure to tobacco smoke are the leading cause of preventable mortality in the United States. Many infants and children continue to be exposed to tobacco through all developmental stages: prenatal, perinatal, early childhood and adolescence. In neonates and infants, increased mortality has been linked to parental smoking; in infants and children, exposure to secondhand smoke can increase morbidity from respiratory disease; in adolescents, active tobacco use has been shown to damage health and normal metabolism at a critical stage of growth and development.

• Harm to infants at or around birth
• Harm to infants and children through SHS exposure
• Harm to children from their own smoking
• Resources to Help Protect Children from Tobacco and to Help Adults Quit