Abstract
BackgroundCurrent evidence on the health effects of passive smoking on childhood blood pressure is limited and inconsistent. We investigated the associations between exposure to parental smoking and blood pressure in children and adolescents.MethodsA cross-sectional analysis was performed in a national sample of 42,745 children and adolescents (50.2% boys) aged 7–18 years from seven provinces in China. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were measured. Information on parental smoking was collected through questionnaire. Multivariable linear regression and logistic regression was used to investigate the associations of parental smoking with blood pressure and prevalent hypertension, respectively.ResultsThe reported parental smoking rates were 49.7 and 50.2% in boys and girls, respectively. After adjustment for a range of potential confounders, exposure to parental smoking was associated with 0.44 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.16, 0.72] mmHg and 0.26 (95% CI: 0.04, 0.47) mmHg higher SBP and DBP in girls. Girls exposed to parental smoking were also more likely to have hypertension compared with those without exposure (odds ratio = 1.11, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.20). No significant associations were found in boys.ConclusionsExposure to parental smoking was associated with increased blood pressure and higher prevalence of hypertension in girls, but not in boys. Urgent strategies are needed for the promotion of smoking-free environment, especially for children and adolescents.
Highlights
Current evidence on the health effects of passive smoking on childhood blood pressure is limited and inconsistent
Exposure to parental smoking was associated with increased blood pressure and higher prevalence of hypertension in girls, the positive association between diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and parental smoking did not reach statistical
We found that exposure to parental smoking was associated with increased Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and DBP and higher prevalence of hypertension in girls
Summary
Current evidence on the health effects of passive smoking on childhood blood pressure is limited and inconsistent. We investigated the associations between exposure to parental smoking and blood pressure in children and adolescents. The blood pressure development in childhood and its tracking into adulthood is affected by Cigarette smoking is a major source of indoor air pollution. Children are more vulnerable to the adverse effects of air toxicants, such as second-hand smoke, because of the underdeveloped lungs and greater exposure due to higher ventilation rate [8]. A number of epidemiological studies investigated the associations between passive smoking, mainly due to parental smoking, and blood pressure in children and adolescents, but the results are inconsistent [9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17].
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