Reuters (8/6, Seaman) reports that children who were born into families with an inherent cigarette smoking culture, are more likely to take up smoking themselves during pre-adolescence or adolescence, according to a study published online Aug. 5 in the journal Pediatrics. The researchers from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, analyzed 23 years of smoking pattern data and found that 23 percent of the children whose parents had smoked as adolescents became smokers themselves, regardless of whether their parents ultimately quit or reduced their smoking habits.
On its website, CBS News (8/6, Castillo) adds that the study also found that among families in which the “oldest child smoked, younger siblings were six times more likely” to take up smoking; and the older siblings were “15 times more likely to smoke if they were in a household where one of their parents smoked compared to a home where no parent smoked.”
Related Links:
— “Parental smoking tied to kids’ risk of lighting up, “Andrew M. Seaman, Reuters, August 5, 2013.