HealthWise KnowledgeBase
Smoking: Health Risk for Family Members
Topic Overview
The smoke from your cigarettes (Reference secondhand smoke Opens New Window) puts your loved ones' health at risk.
- Because of secondhand smoke, spouses and children of people who smoke have an increased risk of cancer and heart disease.
- Babies whose parents smoke:
- Are more likely to have ear infections, pneumonia, and bronchitis in the first few years of their lives.
- Have a higher risk of Reference sudden infant death syndrome Opens New Window (SIDS).
- Children of people who smoke are more likely to be smokers themselves.
When you quit smoking, you reduce all of these risk factors for health problems in your family. You also increase the chance that your children will not smoke or will quit if they already smoke.
| By: | Reference Healthwise Staff | Last Revised: Reference July 6, 2011 |
| Medical Review: | Reference Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine
Reference John Hughes, MD - Psychiatry |
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