The topic of smoking has been brought to my attention continuously in recent
months. It has been discussed with
fellow members of the MPH program. Friends have talked about how people smoking
on campus frustrate them. The television
is consistently running the Truth campaign
commercials. I have discussed
tobacco-use and its effects on health in multiple classes. The continued use of tobacco is obviously an
issue in most societies. In the United States,
every single death certificate has a place to mark if tobacco was a
contributing factor to death. My biggest
concern is why do people continue to smoke or start the destructive habit if
they know it’s a terrible risk? One
interesting point is people continuing to smoke because of smoking allowing
them to maintain a low body weight. The
Fernanda Rafaela de et al. article discussed this phenomenon. The nicotine from cigarettes acts as an
appetite suppressor. Thus, people who
smoke do not want to eat as often. This allows
them to more easily maintain a low body weight.
In their study, smoking was categorized as an independent risk factor
for malnutrition. Most of my research
into smoking and malnutrition showed the most significant results to be
affecting children. It is the children
of parents who smoke that appear to be having issues with their health. Not only is smoking known to cause breathing
problems in children like asthma, it also affects their growth. Mushtaq et al. research lead to results
showing Pakistani children have stunted growth.
In this particular study, smoking in the home was not shown to affect the
thinness of the child. The Semba et al.
article best summarized the risk of parental smoking and child malnutrition. This article looked at numerous urban and
rural Indonesian families to determine the risks of smoking in a family. The researchers discussed how funds which
would otherwise go towards necessities are spent on cigarettes. Their results showed that paternal smoking in
Indonesia (a developing country) is connected to higher infant and < 5 aged
children mortality. These results are
inspiring for those trying to end cigarette smoking. People can often be persuaded to change when
the health of their children is at risk.
Let’s hope some change will come from these troubling results.
·
Fernanda Rafaella de, M. S., Mirella Gondim
Ozias Aquino,de Oliveira, Alex Sandro, R. S., Jose, N. F., & Carmina, S. S.
(2015). Factors associated with malnutrition in hospitalized cancer patients: A
croos-sectional study. Nutrition Journal, 14 Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/docview/1779687233?accountid=13360
·
Mushtaq, M. U., Gull, S., Khurshid, U., Shahid,
U., Shad, M. A., & Siddiqui, A. M. (2011). Prevalence and socio-demographic
correlates of stunting and thinness among pakistani primary school children.
BMC Public Health, 11, 790.
doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/10.1186/1471-2458-11-790
·
Semba, Richard D,M.D., M.P.H., de Pee, S., PhD,
Sun, K., M.S., Best, C. M., M.H.S., Sari, M., M.Sc, & Bloem, Martin W,M.D.,
PhD. (2008). Paternal smoking and increased risk of infant and under-5 child
mortality in indonesia. American Journal of Public Health, 98(10), 1824-6.
Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/docview/215091536?accountid=13360
Hi Erin,
ReplyDeleteI think you brought up a very worthy discussion that needs to be focused on. It reminds me of some work that a previous professor and colleague of mine did at The University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. Dr. Timothy Dewhirst in the Department of Marketing & Consumer Sciences focused on tobacco research and marketing. Dr. Dewhirst has worked for multiple organization in this case; WHO, governments such as the State of California and federal government of Canada in representation and law suits against the tobacco industry. He mentions that $50 billion CDN in healthcare cost recovery was the lawsuit in Ontario alone against the industry. He brings up the ethics of marketing and information access and raises the ethical standpoint of marketing here. Question to you: do you think this is a contributing factor to the impacts you mentioned in Pakistan or Indonesia? Do CHW have an ethical and moral obligation to go against any of the marketing they see? Also, bringing up some TNC thoughts here from our last class, what does a litigation such as this against the tobacco industry do to small farmers of tobacco in developing countries? Are some developing countries reliant on this industry for economic growth or sustainability? What impact will this have on their health and nutrition (ability to feed themselves with their earnings)? Should this impact even be considered? It is a double-edge sword I think in something like this if we consider all the aspects that can come into play.
Here is a link to one of Dr. Dewhirst's lectures which is worth the listen if you have time, is very interesting even to just have it on in the background, some great work he has done!
Dr. Timothy Dewhirst on Tobacco Marketing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOuPK2RTMD8
Erin, I’m so happy you brought up this point. It’s funny that you mentioned about malnutrition, because I have a good family friend who is a very heavy smoker and every time I go over to their house, the only thing I can find in the fridge is butter and some soda. I swear he never eats. His son is very against smoking and runs cross country, but this didn’t really seem to faze the dad. Another smoking phenomenon that I can never fathom is how so many nurses and hospital workers smoke to get them through the stressful, long shifts. Healthcare workers who know the risks and harm of smoking, yet feel they need to smoke to calm down from their stressful jobs as healthcare workers. Perhaps smoking is a result of the structural environment of Americans? I thought this article was interesting
ReplyDeletehttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/doi/10.1111/j.1099-0860.2010.00323.x/full
Not only are children’s health affected immediately and physically by secondhand smoke, but also by their perceptions of what smoking does for a person (many children perceived smoking relaxes their parents, and maybe they would do it for the same reason). Parents may be swayed to stop a smoking habit with this in mind as well.
Hi Erin, Amy & Lisa
ReplyDeleteIn fact raising this issue for discussion used to make me feel frustrated!
I will comment from another perspective. I will talk about the ethical point of view!
Is it ethical that parents damage the health of their kids? How come that kids become FORCED to be secondary smokers just because being born to a smoking parent? How can we protect these children, especially when parents smoke in a closed area such as a car?
What really makes me frustrated is that most parents know about risks of smoking on their children health. Maybe the perception of severity of the condition is not clear for them or thei decisional balance is somehow skewed, which maybe some area of intervention.
It is a serious issue especially that parents are considered models for their children. So, such unhealthy behavior of the parents will not only affect their childen directly via affecting their health but also by affecting their future lives by giving them wrong beliefs & attitudes about smoking which may convince them to be smokers in their adulthood or even in their childhood. What an ethical dilemma!
It is a crucial issue that requires urgent interventions especially with the current global increase in smoking rate. However; some key questions remain, what is the most effictive intervention to achieve success and put a halt to this threat? Can policy play a role to resolve this dilemma? Or it is just about individual and community levels?