State Health: 216,000 Kids Will be Without Dads Due to Smoking Related Deaths

ALBANY, NY (06/14/2007)(readMedia)-- The State Health Department is reminding dads this Father’s Day to remember the important role they play in influencing their children’s choices about smoking and in protecting their own health so they can be there for their children.

This Fathers Day, 216,000 children in the United States will be without their dads due to smoking-caused deaths. This year, 1,600 New York children will lose their fathers to a tobacco-caused disease.

“Tobacco use hurts families in so many ways,” said State Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines M.D. “Children from families with smokers are twice as likely to become smokers themselves, suffer the health consequences of secondhand smoke exposure, and are at risk of losing a loved one – even your own father – to smoking. Quitting smoking is the most important decision you can make for your own health and for the health of your family.”

All dads, smokers and non-smokers alike, can celebrate Father’s Day by talking to their kids about smoking and taking simple precautions to avoid exposing their children to secondhand smoke.

According to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids Father’s Day Data on Smoking Dads and Related Harms, 23 percent of men in New York are smokers, and New York ranks 30th in the country with 1,610,400 men who smoke. Each year 14,400 New York men die needlessly from smoking.

Exposure to cigarette smoke during childhood can result in increased school absenteeism, emergency room visits, and hospitalizations and may lead to the development of cancer during adulthood.

Secondhand smoke can also prolong and worsen numerous medical conditions, including pneumonia, bronchitis, croup, laryngitis, asthma, flu, ear infections, colds, sinus infections, sore throats, and eye irritation. Babies exposed to secondhand smoke face a higher risk of sudden infant death syndrome and a range of other serious health and developmental problems.

Commissioner Daines said he is committed to Governor Spitzer’s goal to have 1 million fewer smokers – 900,000 adults and 100,000 children – by the year 2010. Data from 2005 are used for the baseline number of 3,027,785 smokers. Thirty percent of the goal has been reached so far, with 2,688,082 New York smokers in 2006.

“Dads and moms are so important in helping us reach our goal,” said Ursula E. Bauer, Ph.D., M.P.H, director of the state’s Tobacco Control Program. “By quitting smoking themselves and by increasing the chances their children will grow up tobacco free, parents help make our state even healthier. Nearly one million (984,000) adult smokers live with children in the home here in New York. Bringing that number down will move the state dramatically closer to reaching our 2010 goal.”

Protecting Children from Secondhand Smoke

• Keep your home and car smoke-free.

• Never smoke while holding, feeding, or bathing your child.

• Never smoke in the car, especially when your child is a passenger.

• When evaluating daycare centers or babysitters always ask about smoking.

• Avoid leaving your child with someone who smokes or in smoky environments.

Protecting Children from Becoming Smokers

• Talk to your children if you are trying to quit smoking about how addictive smoking is and why you want to quit and how important it is to never start smoking.

• Make sure your child’s school has strong, well-enforced no-smoking rules for students and staff.

• Listen to what your child says and does about smoking and offer encouragement for good choices.

• Ask about friends and their attitudes toward smoking. Discuss peer pressure and how to deal with it effectively.

For more information about quitting smoking, please call the New York State Smoker’s Quitline at 1-866-NY-QUITS or 1-866-697-8487 or visit the New York State Smoker’s Quitsite on the web at www.newyorksmokefree.com.

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Posted Thursday June 14, 2007 at 01:53 pm by New York State Department of Health