Which statement best reflects the impact of parental smoking on SIDS risk?

Which statement best reflects the impact of parental smoking on SIDS risk?

• A. Elevated risk for SIDS in infants of mothers who smoke.
• B. Increased likelihood that the child will quit smoking by adulthood.
• C. Smoking outdoors eliminates secondhand smoke exposure completely.
• D. There is no difference in asthma risk between children of smoking and non-smoking parents.

Answer: (A)

Parental smoking elevates the risk of SIDS, with both prenatal and postnatal exposure contributing. When a mother smokes during pregnancy, nicotine and other toxins can disrupt fetal brainstem development and autonomic control of breathing and arousal, increasing SIDS risk in a dose-dependent way—the more smoking, the higher the risk. After birth, secondhand smoke exposure continues to raise risk because the infant’s developing respiratory and autonomic systems are still vulnerable to the irritants and hypoxia of tobacco smoke. That’s why the statement about infants of mothers who smoke having higher SIDS risk is the best reflection of the data. Other options miss the focus on SIDS: smoking outdoors does not guarantee a smoke-free environment for an infant, since indoor exposure can persist; the idea that smoking would make a child more likely to quit by adulthood is about later behavior, not SIDS risk; and while parental smoking is associated with asthma and other respiratory issues, the question targets SIDS risk specifically.

Parental smoking elevates the risk of SIDS, with both prenatal and postnatal exposure contributing. When a mother smokes during pregnancy, nicotine and other toxins can disrupt fetal brainstem development and autonomic control of breathing and arousal, increasing SIDS risk in a dose-dependent way—the more smoking, the higher the risk. After birth, secondhand smoke exposure continues to raise risk because the infant’s developing respiratory and autonomic systems are still vulnerable to the irritants and hypoxia of tobacco smoke.

That’s why the statement about infants of mothers who smoke having higher SIDS risk is the best reflection of the data.

Other options miss the focus on SIDS: smoking outdoors does not guarantee a smoke-free environment for an infant, since indoor exposure can persist; the idea that smoking would make a child more likely to quit by adulthood is about later behavior, not SIDS risk; and while parental smoking is associated with asthma and other respiratory issues, the question targets SIDS risk specifically.