Parents' attitudes to children's tobacco smoke exposure and how the issue is handled in health care

Abstract

Introduction The objective of the study was to understand the opinions and attitudes among parents of preschool children towards children's passive smoking, to show how attitudes influenced smoking and smoking behavior, and how the parents had experienced the handling of the tobacco issue in antenatal and child health care. Method A subsample of smoking and nonsmoking parents (n = 300) with 4- to 6-year-old children participating in All Babies in Southeast Sweden (ABIS), a prospective study on environmental factors affecting development of immune-mediated diseases, answered a questionnaire on their opinions and attitudes to children's passive smoking. Results Indoor smokers were more positive regarding smoking, less aware of the adverse health effects from passive smoking, and more negative regarding the handling of tobacco prevention in health care than both outdoor smokers and nonsmokers. Indoor smokers' idea of how children should be protected from tobacco smoke exposure was significantly different from the idea of nonsmokers and outdoor smokers. Discussion Results indicate that further intense efforts are needed to convince the remaining indoor smokers about the adverse health effects related to tobacco smoke exposure. Pediatric nurses meet these parents in their daily work and should be aware of the need to focus this group and their use of protective measures.