Smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke among pregnant women contribute to low birth-weight babies, preterm delivery, perinatal deaths, and sudden infant death syndrome. Well over 30,000 births per year in the U.S. are affected by one or more of these problems. More information can be found here. Information on smoking and pregnancy can be found here.

Secondhand smoke is among the most harmful and common environmental dangers to children. According to the 2006 Report of the Surgeon General almost 60 percent of children aged 3 through 11 years are exposed to secondhand smoke. These children are at increased risk for multiple serious health effects like asthma, respiratory infections, decreased lung growth and exercise tolerance, and sudden infant death syndrome. Smoking by parents or primary caregivers in the home is the primary source of exposure for preschoolers. This exposure is most dangerous for the youngest children because they spend more time in close proximity to parents and have immature lungs. Parental smoking results in substantial annual direct medical expenditures and increases the chance that children will become smokers.Other effects may include childhood cancer, childhood leukemia, childhood lymphomas, and childhood brain tumors. Secondhand smoke disproportionately affects low-income and minority children and families. More information on the effects of secondhand tobacco smoke on child health can be found in the Surgeon General's report.

Active cigarette smoking during childhood and adolescence produces significant health problems among young people, including periodontal disease, chronic coughing, increased phlegm production, an increase in the number and severity of respiratory illnesses, decreased physical fitness, and potential retardation in the rate of lung growth and the level of maximum lung function. It is estimated that more than 3 million U.S. adolescents are cigarette smokers and more than 2,000 children under the age of 18 start smoking each day. If current patterns of tobacco use persist, an estimated 6.4 million children will die prematurely from a smoking-related disease. Cigarette companies spend more that $15.1 billion annually (or $41 million daily) to promote cigarette smoking, with much of the marketing directly targeting children. For more information on children and smoking, visit Tobacco Free Kids and the CDC.

Big Tobacco's Guinea Pigs: How an Unregulated Industry Experiments on America's Kids and Consumers - Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, this report was issued by the Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids, the Cancer Action Network, the American Heart & Stroke Association and the American Lung Association. It provides compelling insight on how the tobacco industry manipulates products deign and uses health and other marketing claims to endanger the lives of youth and consumers in America.
(2008: 59 pages)

Between one-half and one-third of youth who try a cigarette will go on to become daily smokers, according to the American Legacy Foundation, a national tobacco education organization funded by the 1998 tobacco company settlement. Because of the highly addictive nature of nicotine, anti-smoking campaigns work hard to prevent teens from ever trying that first cigarette.

Parenting Tips To Keep Your Kids From Smoking
(adapted from the American Legacy Foundation)

• Be a role model for your children. Children of smokers are twice as likely as kids from nonsmoking homes to try a cigarette or smoke regularly.
• If you smoke, try to quit. Enlist your family's support. Seeing how difficult it is for you to quit may be enough to keep your kids from starting. At least designate your house and car as smoke-free zones.
• Be aware of smoking that kids see in movies and on TV. Although tobacco companies are restricted from advertising directly to children, their multibillion-dollar marketing campaigns glamorize tobacco use.
• Tell your children about the side effects of smoking. Smoking damages athletic ability and causes wrinkles, stinky breath and stained teeth, not to mention lung and heart diseases.
• If teens do start to smoke, encourage them to quit. By quitting, people can add years to their lives. It isn't easy, but every attempt should be considered a success.
• Think beyond cigarettes. Smokeless tobacco, hookahs, clove cigarettes and candy-flavored cigarettes are addictive and can cause cancer and other health problems. Many have higher concentrations of nicotine, carbon monoxide and tar than do traditional cigarettes.

• Secondhand Smoke Reduction
  California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) OEHHA’s overall mission is to protect and enhance public health and the environment by scientific evaluation of risks posed by hazardous substances.
  
  
• Secondhand Tobacco Smoke & Children's Health (PDF)
  
  
• El humo de tabaco de segunda mano y la salud de los ninos (PDF)
  
  
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Smoke-Free Homes
  This site offers a wealth of information on the health effects of secondhand smoke on children and helps families establish a smoke-free home.
  
  
• Helping Smokers to Quit
  1-800-QUIT-NOW is the toll-free national telephone counseling service to help people stop smoking or quit other forms of tobacco use.
  
  
• Become an EX
  This free Quit Plan sponsored by the American Legacy Foundation utilizes a systematic program to help prepare a customized quitting plan for each person.