Just weeks after the Obama administration enacted the nationwide smoking ban in housing units and local public establishments, a study of ER admissions due to asthma in kids show that rates have gone down only after a few years of the initial smoking ban.
The recent study led pediatric allergy experts at the University of Chicago Medicine, found that communities with indoor smoking bans reported a 17% reduction of asthma cases in emergency rooms.
Twenty community areas were studied from 2010 to 2014, and comparisons of pre-smoking ban and post-smoking ban records were examined.They found that ER admission rate reduction becomes deeper as the years go by.
Specifically, asthma in kids goes down by 8% in the first year, 13% in the second, and finally 17% after three years. This positive outcome gives proof that smoking bans work on many levels. However, some researchers say that there is no specific association between smoking bans and asthma in kids, but others say that the study strongly suggests that there is.
Due to known ill effects of smoking, a lot of smokers have already quit the habit, and an expansive smoking ban not only help cut down smokers but also reduce exposure to secondhand smoke.
According to PBS, the nationwide smoking ban introduced clean air regulation in housing units and public areas such as restaurants, hotels, and workplaces.
One health researcher comments that clean air legislation greatly improves public health, especially those of children. Kids' lungs are still developing and they easily catch respiratory infections due to their underdeveloped organs.
Most kids develop asthma due to irritants in the air such as in smoking. Some parents still smoke inside the house and this greatly compromises the quality of air that the whole family breathes, Science Daily says.
A health expert confirms that all parents could breathe easier when their children do. The recent enactment of the indoor smoking ban holds great hope for clean and quality air that will cut down asthma in kids.
