Children living with smokers more likely to go hungry
- Published: 04 November 2008 12:21
- Author: Richard Staines
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- Last Updated: 04 November 2008 12:21
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Children and adults living with smokers are less likely to have daily access to health food compared with those living with non-smokers, a study has shown.
US researchers analysed 8,817 households with children aged 17 and younger between 1999 and 2002 to see if the presence or absence of adult smokers affected food security.
Findings showed that 23% of children were living with smokers. Among this group, 17% were food insecure, compared with 8.7% of households with smokers.
Among adults, 25.7 of those living with smokers were food insecure, compared with 11.6% living with non-smokers.
Authors wrote: 'The burden of food insecurity is a previously unrecognized danger of adult tobacco use to be added to the ever-growing list of negative effects of adult tobacco use on children.'
Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine (2008) 162: 1056-1062
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