Smoking and Real Life Results of Children and Adolescents

Aim: Smoking is a chronic disease and children are the most affected group. In this study, we aimed to question the smoking habits of children and their parents and examine the level of exhaled carbon monoxide (eCO) to evaluate the usefulness of the method in an outpatient allergy clinic. Methods: A questionnare was applied to 29 children who were smoker or exposed to second-hand smoke (SHS) and their parents separately. eCO levels of the participants were measured with CO Smokerlyzer. Results: The median eCO level of children who smoked was 10 (7-14) ppm and was significantly higher than children exposed to SHS (P <0.001). The children who smoked were significantly older, the more they had friends who smoked. Children who were not exposed to tobacco products had lower rates of hospitalization due to recurrent lower respiratory tract infections, and family history of asthma was lower than children exposed to SHS (p <0.05). All the children were aware of the harmful effects of smoking. 34.5% of the parents were never questioned by their physicians about tobacco and its products and were not informed about smoking. Conclusions: Using eCO in the clinic is a useful method to predict smoking status in daily practice. Children's attitudes towards smoking and peer relationships and parents' ignorance of smoking and SHS are still an unresolved issue.