Effect of parental cigarette smoking on the pulmonary function of children

The authors have investigated the effects of parental smoking patterns on the pulmonary function of children in East Boston, Massachusetts. A crude inverse dose-response relationship was observed between the level of FEF25--75% predicted of children who never smoked and the number of smoking parents in the household. Compared to children with two non-smoking parents, the level of FEF25--75% predicted was 0.156 and 0.355 standard deviation units lower for children with one and two currently smoking parents, respectively. An additional decline in level of FEF25--75% predicted was observed for children who themselves had smoked. Smoking children with two smoking parents had an average FEF25--75% predicted level which was 0.355 standard deviation units lower than non-smoking children with two smoking parents. These data not only confirm that cigarette smoking by young children and teenagers has direct measurable effects on their pulmonary function, but also show that cigarette smoking by parents has a measurable effect on the pulmonary function of their children which is independent of any direct use of cigarettes by the children.