Exposure to secondhand smoke can have a negative impact on a child’s health.
Thus, the 2017 Child Well-Being Survey asked parents and guardians in the Greater Cincinnati region whether they allowed people to smoke in their home. In the region overall, only 7 percent of caregivers allowed people to smoke in their home.
Children in lower-income families, however, were more likely to be exposed. Among parents and guardians earning 100 percent or less of Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPG), 20 percent allowed smoking in their homes. This compared with 10percent of guardians earning between 100 and 200 percent FPG, and only 4 percent of guardians earning above 200 percent FPG.
The 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health asked a similar question about exposure to smoking. Nationwide, 3 percent of families reported that someone smoked in their child’s home, less than locally.
“While tobacco use overall has declined dramatically in the last two decades, certain groups continue to have disproportionately higher rates, including lower-income populations,” said Dr. O’dell Moreno Owens, President and CEO of Interact for Health. “Thus, it is imperative that we pursue comprehensive tobacco-control efforts that are designed to protect all members of our communities.”
The 2017 Child Well-Being Survey is funded by Interact for Health and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, with support from the United Way of Greater Cincinnati.
It was conducted March 5-Aug. 9, 2017, by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati. A random sample of 2,757 adult caregivers from a 22-county region in Southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana was interviewed.
For more information about the Child Well-Being Survey, click here.
To further this work in the region, Interact for Health is accepting grant proposals from organizations for projects to reduce tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke among low-income adults and youth in the Greater Cincinnati region.
Over the next five years, up to $700,000 will be awarded to projects to focus on evidence-based tobacco policy change and innovation to reduce tobacco disparities. For additional details, click here.
Interact for Health serves as a catalyst to improve health in the region by promoting health equity through grants, education, research, policy and engagement.
To amplify the impact of its work, Interact for Health focuses on three strategic priorities: reducing tobacco use, addressing the opioid epidemic and ensuring that children have access to health care through school-based health centers. It is an independent foundation that serves 20 counties in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
Interact for Health
