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Web address:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/
110110164927.htm
Smoking Around Your Kindergartner Could Raise Their Blood Pressure
ScienceDaily (Jan. 10, 2011) If you smoke around your children, they could
have high blood pressure or be headed in an unhealthy direction before learning
their ABC's, according to research reported in Circulation: Journal of the
American Heart Association.
The study is the first to show that breathing tobacco smoke increases the blood
pressure of children as young as 4 or 5 years old.
"The prevention of adult diseases like stroke or heart attack begins during
childhood," said Giacomo D. Simonetti, M.D., first author of the study at the
University of Heidelberg in Germany and currently assistant professor of
pediatrics at the Children's Hospital of the University of Berne in
Switzerland. "Parental smoking is not only negative for children's lung
function, but poses a risk for their future cardiovascular health."
In an extension of a standard school health exam, 4,236 kindergarten boys and
girls (average age 5.7) in the German district that includes Heidelberg had
their blood pressure measured. Of parents reporting they smoked, 28.5 percent
were fathers, 20.7 percent mothers and 11.9 percent were both parents.
Children with a smoking parent were 21 percent more likely to have systolic
blood pressure (the top number in a reading, measured as the heart contracts)
in the highest 15 percent, even after adjusting for other heart disease risk
factors, such as birth weight, body mass index, and hypertension in the parents.
"Passive smoking increased the risk of having blood pressure at the upper end
of normal, and some of these children already had high blood pressure,"
Simonetti said.
After correcting for other risk factors -- having parents with high blood
pressure, being born prematurely or at a low birth weight, being overweight or
obese -- blood pressures were significantly higher in the children of smoking
parents.
The impact was greater for systolic blood pressure (average increase 1.0 mm Hg)
than diastolic blood pressure (average increase 0.5 mm Hg), the lower number in
a reading measured when the heart rests between beats.
"Smoking adds to other risk factors," Simonetti said. "Average blood pressure
increased in proportion to the cumulative number of risk factors present."
Smoking by mothers had a larger impact than fathers smoking, probably because
more of their smoking was done in the home while fathers smoked more at their
workplaces, researchers said.
Smoke exposure is likely to have a similar impact on blood pressure in children
in the United States, the researchers said.
"Childhood blood pressure consistently tracks into adult life," Simonetti said.
"Removing any avoidable risk factors as soon as possible will help reduce the
risk for heart disease later on and improve the long-term health of children."
The study findings suggest that encouraging strictly smoke-free environments,
specifically at home, may help preserve cardiovascular health not only in
adults but also in children, researchers said.
Co-authors are: Rainer Schwertz, M.D.; Martin Klett, M.D.; Georg F. Hoffman,
M.D.; Franz Schaefer, M.D.; and Elke Wühl, M.D. Author disclosures are on the
manuscript.
The Manfred-Lautenschläger Stiftung, Reimann-Dubbers-Stiftung,
Dietmar-Hopp-Stiftung and the Swiss Society of Hypertension AstraZeneca
scholarship funded the study.
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Story Source:
The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily
staff) from materials provided by American Heart Association.
Journal Reference:
1. Giacomo D. Simonetti, Rainer Schwertz, Martin Klett, Georg F. Hoffmann,
Franz Schaefer, and Elke Wühl. Determinants of Blood Pressure in Preschool
Children: The Role of Parental Smoking. Circulation, 2011; DOI:
10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.110.958769
Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the
following formats:
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American Heart Association (2011, January 10). Smoking around your
kindergartner could raise their blood pressure. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January
11, 2011, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2011/01/110110164927.htm
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis
or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of
ScienceDaily or its staff.
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