Which statement is true about children of parents who smoke cigarettes?

Which statement is true about children of parents who smoke cigarettes?

• A. Elevated risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in infants of mothers who smoke.
• B. Decreased likelihood that the child will smoke cigarettes as an adult.
• C. Smoking cigarettes outside eliminates the risk that second-hand smoke poses to children.
• D. No significant difference in the risk of asthma and lower respiratory tract infections when compared to children of non-smoking parents.

Answer: (A)

Maternal smoking during pregnancy directly increases the risk of SIDS in infancy because in-utero exposure to nicotine and other smoke toxins can disrupt fetal autonomic control and arousal during sleep, and it often contributes to factors like lower birth weight and prematurity that heighten vulnerability. This makes the statement about an elevated SIDS risk in infants of mothers who smoke the true, and it’s the best choice. Postnatal exposure to secondhand smoke further adds respiratory risks, but outdoors smoking does not completely eliminate exposure—smoke can linger indoors and affect the child, so the notion that outdoor smoking removes this risk is inaccurate. Additionally, children of smoking parents have a higher likelihood of developing asthma and lower respiratory infections, not no difference. Parental smoking can also increase the chance that a child adopts smoking later in life, due to modeling.

Maternal smoking during pregnancy directly increases the risk of SIDS in infancy because in-utero exposure to nicotine and other smoke toxins can disrupt fetal autonomic control and arousal during sleep, and it often contributes to factors like lower birth weight and prematurity that heighten vulnerability. This makes the statement about an elevated SIDS risk in infants of mothers who smoke the true, and it’s the best choice.

Postnatal exposure to secondhand smoke further adds respiratory risks, but outdoors smoking does not completely eliminate exposure—smoke can linger indoors and affect the child, so the notion that outdoor smoking removes this risk is inaccurate. Additionally, children of smoking parents have a higher likelihood of developing asthma and lower respiratory infections, not no difference. Parental smoking can also increase the chance that a child adopts smoking later in life, due to modeling.