Study: Secondhand smoke may cause children to develop ADHD

By Staff Writer

A recent study reveals that children who are exposed to secondhand smoke are at risk to develop attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

According to PsychCentral.com, researchers asked a sample of American children ages four to 15 about their exposure to cigarette smoke at home. Investigators also measured the cotinine level in their blood to determine each child's exposure to tobacco. The results showed that 10.6 of the children with ADHD had been exposed to secondhand smoke, compared to 4.6 percent of children with ADHD who were not exposed to smoke.

The U.S. study also revealed that secondhand smoke caused a higher rate of stuttering and an increased percentage of headaches in children.

The results were recently released at an international conference in Sydney, Australia. The chief executive officer of a cancer council in Australia said that the research only added to evidence that smoking can harm individuals who do not smoke.

“The right to a smoke-free childhood is a basic human right,” he said at the conference, according to the news source.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the diagnosis of ADHD increased by an average of 3 percent per year from 1997 to 2006.