Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Environmental Health Perspectives logoLink to Environmental Health Perspectives
. 1991 Dec;96:203–211. doi: 10.1289/ehp.9196203

Passive smoking among schoolchildren in Israel.

A I Goren 1, S Hellman 1
PMCID: PMC1568256  PMID: 1820266

Abstract

A health survey was carried out among 8259 second- and fifth-grade schoolchildren living in three towns along the Israeli coast. The schoolchildren performed the following pulmonary function tests: forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in 1 sec, and peak expiratory flow, their parents filled out an American Thoracic Society-National Heart and Lung Institute health questionnaire. The aim of the survey was to study the impact of environmental and home exposures on the prevalence of respiratory conditions and on pulmonary function tests among Israeli schoolchildren. The health effects of exposure to passive smoking are discussed in detail. A trend of a higher frequency of reported respiratory conditions was found among schoolchildren whose fathers or mothers are smokers compared with children whose parents do not smoke. A statistically significant excess between 1.4% (for wheezing without cold) and 4.7% (for cough with cold) was found for children of smoking fathers; the excess for children of smoking mothers was between 1.6% (for wheezing with cold) and 3.6% (for cough with cold) compared with children of nonsmokers. A gradual excess in symptoms was found among children with none, one, and two smoking parents. Relative risks were found to be between 1.13 (for bronchitis) and 1.28 (for wheezing without cold) for children of smoking fathers, and between 1.24 (for asthma) and 1.41 (for cough with sputum) for children of smoking mothers, compared with 1.00 for children of nonsmokers. There was no consistent trend of reduced pulmonary function tests among children of smokers compared with nonsmokers' children.

Full text

PDF
203

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bland M., Bewley B. R., Pollard V., Banks M. H. Effect of children's and parents' smoking on respiratory symptoms. Arch Dis Child. 1978 Feb;53(2):100–105. doi: 10.1136/adc.53.2.100. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Cameron P., Kostin J. S., Zaks J. M., Wolfe J. H., Tighe G., Oselett B., Stocker R., Winton J. The health of smokers' and nonsmokers' children. J Allergy. 1969 Jun;43(6):336–341. doi: 10.1016/0021-8707(69)90078-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Charlton A. Children's coughs related to parental smoking. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1984 Jun 2;288(6431):1647–1649. doi: 10.1136/bmj.288.6431.1647. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Colley J. R. Respiratory symptoms in children and parental smoking and phlegm production. Br Med J. 1974 Apr 27;2(5912):201–204. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.5912.201. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Fergusson D. M., Horwood L. J., Shannon F. T. Parental smoking and respiratory illness in infancy. Arch Dis Child. 1980 May;55(5):358–361. doi: 10.1136/adc.55.5.358. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Fergusson D. M., Horwood L. J., Shannon F. T., Taylor B. Parental smoking and lower respiratory illness in the first three years of life. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1981 Sep;35(3):180–184. doi: 10.1136/jech.35.3.180. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Ferris B. G. Epidemiology Standardization Project (American Thoracic Society). Am Rev Respir Dis. 1978 Dec;118(6 Pt 2):1–120. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Goren A. I., Goldsmith J. R. Epidemiology of childhood respiratory disease in Israel. Eur J Epidemiol. 1986 Jun;2(2):139–150. doi: 10.1007/BF00157026. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Hasselblad V., Humble C. G., Graham M. G., Anderson H. S. Indoor environmental determinants of lung function in children. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1981 May;123(5):479–485. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1981.123.5.479. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Lebowitz M. D., Burrows B. Respiratory symptoms related to smoking habits of family adults. Chest. 1976 Jan;69(1):48–50. doi: 10.1378/chest.69.1.48. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Lebowitz M. D., Holberg C. J., Boyer B., Hayes C. Respiratory symptoms and peak flow associated with indoor and outdoor air pollutants in the southwest. J Air Pollut Control Assoc. 1985 Nov;35(11):1154–1158. doi: 10.1080/00022470.1985.10466016. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Lebowitz M. D., Knudson R. J., Burrows B. Family aggregation of pulmonary function measurements. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1984 Jan;129(1):8–11. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1984.129.1.8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Leeder S. R., Corkhill R., Irwig L. M., Holland W. W., Colley J. R. Influence of family factors on the incidence of lower respiratory illness during the first year of life. Br J Prev Soc Med. 1976 Dec;30(4):203–212. doi: 10.1136/jech.30.4.203. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Schenker M. B., Samet J. M., Speizer F. E. Risk factors for childhood respiratory disease. The effect of host factors and home environmental exposures. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1983 Dec;128(6):1038–1043. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1983.128.6.1038. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Schilling R. S., Letai A. D., Hui S. L., Beck G. J., Schoenberg J. B., Bouhuys A. Lung function, respiratory disease, and smoking in families. Am J Epidemiol. 1977 Oct;106(4):274–283. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a112463. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Speizer F. E., Ferris B., Jr, Bishop Y. M., Spengler J. Respiratory disease rates and pulmonary function in children associated with NO2 exposure. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1980 Jan;121(1):3–10. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1980.121.1.3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Tager I. B., Weiss S. T., Muñoz A., Rosner B., Speizer F. E. Longitudinal study of the effects of maternal smoking on pulmonary function in children. N Engl J Med. 1983 Sep 22;309(12):699–703. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198309223091204. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Tashkin D. P., Clark V. A., Simmons M., Reems C., Coulson A. H., Bourque L. B., Sayre J. W., Detels R., Rokaw S. The UCLA population studies of chronic obstructive respiratory disease. VII. Relationship between parental smoking and children's lung function. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1984 Jun;129(6):891–897. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1984.129.6.891. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Vedal S., Schenker M. B., Samet J. M., Speizer F. E. Risk factors for childhood respiratory disease. Analysis of pulmonary function. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1984 Aug;130(2):187–192. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1984.130.2.187. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Ware J. H., Dockery D. W., Spiro A., 3rd, Speizer F. E., Ferris B. G., Jr Passive smoking, gas cooking, and respiratory health of children living in six cities. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1984 Mar;129(3):366–374. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1984.129.3.366. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Weiss S. T., Tager I. B., Speizer F. E., Rosner B. Persistent wheeze. Its relation to respiratory illness, cigarette smoking, and level of pulmonary function in a population sample of children. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1980 Nov;122(5):697–707. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1980.122.5.697. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Environmental Health Perspectives are provided here courtesy of National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

RESOURCES