Source: Reuters
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Children exposed to secondhand smoke at home may be more likely than their peers to have learning and behavioral problems, according to a new study.
Researchers found that of more than 55,000 U.S. children younger than 12 years, six percent lived with a smoker. And those kids were more likely to have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a learning disability or “conduct disorder” than children in smoke-free homes.
Even after accounting for a number of possible explanations — like parents’ incomes and education levels — secondhand smoke was still tied to a higher risk of behavioral problems, said Hillel R. Alpert of the Harvard School of Public Health, one of the researchers on the work.