Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Tobacco Control logoLink to Tobacco Control
. 1998 Mar;7(1):56–60. doi: 10.1136/tc.7.1.56

To what extent do parents strive to protect their children from environmental tobacco smoke in the Nordic countries? A population-based study

K E Lund 1, A Skrondal 1, H Vertio 1, A Helgason 1
PMCID: PMC1759638  PMID: 9706755

Abstract

OBJECTIVE—To assess to what extent Nordic parents strive to protect their children from environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) at home.
DESIGN—A cross-sectional study using an anonymous questionnaire.
SUBJECTS AND SETTING—A stratified, random sample of 5500 households containing a child born during 1992, including 1500 households in Denmark and 1000 households in each of the countries of Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES—Smoking status of parents, prevalence and magnitude of weekly ETS exposure, rules regarding smoking in the home.
RESULTS—82% of current smokers reported having tried to change their smoking behaviour for the sake of their children. Of all parents who answered the questionnaire, 75% reported having introduced some rules to limit ETS in their home. In households where at least one parent smoked, 57% reported that children were exposed to ETS at home. Child exposure to ETS was most prevalent in single-parent households and in households in which parents had lower levels of education. However, these parents were not less likely than other smoking parents to report having tried to change their smoking behaviour for the sake of their children.
CONCLUSION—Environmental tobacco smoke at home is still a problem for many children in the Nordic countries. However, most smoking parents reported having made efforts to change their smoking behaviour for the sake of their children; and in approximately half of all households containing at least one daily smoker, parents reported protecting their children from ETS exposure in the home. Although actual exposure may be higher owing to possible under-reporting of ETS, our results indicate a general awareness in the Nordic countries of the potential negative effects of ETS on children.


Keywords: children; environmental tobacco smoke; homes

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (110.7 KB).

Selected References

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

  1. Aas K., Andersen T., Becher R., Berner M., Holmen T. L. Barns innemiljø. En undersøkelse av norske boliger. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 1995 Jun 30;115(17):2048–2051. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Andreski P., Breslau N. Maternal smoking among blacks and whites. Soc Sci Med. 1995 Jul;41(2):227–233. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(94)00315-k. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brenner H., Mielck A. Children's exposure to parental smoking in West Germany. Int J Epidemiol. 1993 Oct;22(5):818–823. doi: 10.1093/ije/22.5.818. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chilmonczyk B. A., Knight G. J., Palomaki G. E., Pulkkinen A. J., Williams J., Haddow J. E. Environmental tobacco smoke exposure during infancy. Am J Public Health. 1990 Oct;80(10):1205–1208. doi: 10.2105/ajph.80.10.1205. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Chinn S., Rona R. J. Quantifying health aspects of passive smoking in British children aged 5-11 years. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1991 Sep;45(3):188–194. doi: 10.1136/jech.45.3.188. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Cook D. G., Whincup P. H., Jarvis M. J., Strachan D. P., Papacosta O., Bryant A. Passive exposure to tobacco smoke in children aged 5-7 years: individual, family, and community factors. BMJ. 1994 Feb 5;308(6925):384–389. doi: 10.1136/bmj.308.6925.384. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Coultas D. B., Samet J. M., McCarthy J. F., Spengler J. D. Variability of measures of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in the home. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1990 Sep;142(3):602–606. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm/142.3.602. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Forastiére F., Corbo G. M., Michelozzi P., Pistelli R., Agabiti N., Brancato G., Ciappi G., Perucci C. A. Effects of environment and passive smoking on the respiratory health of children. Int J Epidemiol. 1992 Feb;21(1):66–73. doi: 10.1093/ije/21.1.66. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Gortmaker S. L., Walker D. K., Jacobs F. H., Ruch-Ross H. Parental smoking and the risk of childhood asthma. Am J Public Health. 1982 Jun;72(6):574–579. doi: 10.2105/ajph.72.6.574. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Hatziandreu E. J., Pierce J. P., Fiore M. C., Grise V., Novotny T. E., Davis R. M. The reliability of self-reported cigarette consumption in the United States. Am J Public Health. 1989 Aug;79(8):1020–1023. doi: 10.2105/ajph.79.8.1020. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Jarvis M. J., Strachan D. P., Feyerabend C. Determinants of passive smoking in children in Edinburgh, Scotland. Am J Public Health. 1992 Sep;82(9):1225–1229. doi: 10.2105/ajph.82.9.1225. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Jarvis M. J. The association between having children, family size and smoking cessation in adults. Addiction. 1996 Mar;91(3):427–434. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Kay J., Mortimer M. J., Jaron A. G. Do both paternal and maternal smoking influence the prevalence of childhood asthma? A study into the prevalence of asthma in children and the effects of parental smoking. J Asthma. 1995;32(1):47–55. doi: 10.3109/02770909509089499. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Lebowitz M. D., Quackenboss J. J., Kollander M., Soczek M. L., Colome S. The new standard environmental inventory questionnaire for estimation of indoor concentrations. JAPCA. 1989 Nov;39(11):1411–1419. doi: 10.1080/08940630.1989.10466633. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Marbury M. C., Hammond S. K., Haley N. J. Measuring exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in studies of acute health effects. Am J Epidemiol. 1993 May 15;137(10):1089–1097. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116612. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Murray M., Kiryluk S., Swan A. V. Relation between parents' and children's smoking behaviour and attitudes. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1985 Jun;39(2):169–174. doi: 10.1136/jech.39.2.169. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Pirkle J. L., Flegal K. M., Bernert J. T., Brody D. J., Etzel R. A., Maurer K. R. Exposure of the US population to environmental tobacco smoke: the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988 to 1991. JAMA. 1996 Apr 24;275(16):1233–1240. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Rona R. J., Chinn S., Florey C. D. Exposure to cigarette smoking and children's growth. Int J Epidemiol. 1985 Sep;14(3):402–409. doi: 10.1093/ije/14.3.402. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Rona R. J., Chinn S. Lung function, respiratory illness, and passive smoking in British primary school children. Thorax. 1993 Jan;48(1):21–25. doi: 10.1136/thx.48.1.21. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Somerville S. M., Rona R. J., Chinn S. Passive smoking and respiratory conditions in primary school children. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1988 Jun;42(2):105–110. doi: 10.1136/jech.42.2.105. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Stanton W. R., Silva P. A. Children's exposure to smoking. Int J Epidemiol. 1991 Dec;20(4):933–937. doi: 10.1093/ije/20.4.933. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Stanton W. R., Silva P. A. Tracking change in the patterns of parental smoking. J R Soc Health. 1993 Feb;113(1):12–16. doi: 10.1177/146642409311300104. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Ugnat A. M., Mao Y., Miller A. B., Wigle D. T. Effects of residential exposure to environmental tobacco smoke on Canadian children. Can J Public Health. 1990 Sep-Oct;81(5):345–349. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Volkmer R. E., Ruffin R. E., Wigg N. R., Davies N. The prevalence of respiratory symptoms in South Australian preschool children. II. Factors associated with indoor air quality. J Paediatr Child Health. 1995 Apr;31(2):116–120. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1754.1995.tb00758.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Wagenknecht L. E., Burke G. L., Perkins L. L., Haley N. J., Friedman G. D. Misclassification of smoking status in the CARDIA study: a comparison of self-report with serum cotinine levels. Am J Public Health. 1992 Jan;82(1):33–36. doi: 10.2105/ajph.82.1.33. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Tobacco Control are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES