Smoking restrictions having huge benefit for the next generation

[Logical]

Bans on smoking in public places were justified on the basis of limiting involuntary exposure to the hazards of second-hand smoke. On some levels, this seems to have worked; in areas where bans were implemented, cardiovascular events dropped by 15 percent, while hospital admissions for respiratory problems are down by a quarter.

But it's hard to tell whether those benefits are being enjoyed by non-smokers who were exposed to second-hand smoke or smokers who cut back or quit in response to the inconveniences imposed by the new laws. Now, a recent study shows pretty definitively that non-smokers are benefitting, as improved health was seen in a population that clearly isn't smoking: newborns and children.

The study, published in The Lancet, involved what's called a meta-analysis. This technique involves identifying a collection of small studies that all meet a pre-determined standard for experimental rigor. The results of the studies are then pooled, providing a statistical rigor that the individual papers wouldn't be able to reach. In this particular meta-analysis, the authors focused on three factors: rates of pre-term births, the weight of newborns, and hospitalization for asthma in children under 12.

In combination, the studies provided the meta-analysis with well over a million participants in the two questions related to births and 225,753 hospitalization cases for asthma in children. These came from a variety of countries; all of these restricted public smoking, but the details varied (some involved workplace smoking, others just bars and restaurants).

More at: http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/03/smoking-restrictions-having-huge-benefit-for-the-next-generation/

[gratuitous]

1. Between this and getting lead out of gasoline and paint

We might just see an improvement in public health in spite of the best efforts of a handful of men to keep the populace sick, overworked, and poor.

[HockeyMom]

2. None of the above

That is just my generation (Boomers) family members. Our parents generation? Well, according to science today none of us should have lived to have seen our teenage years for what our parents, or us children, did back then.

How did I ever make it to be 65 years old? How did my parents generation make it to their 70s? How did my grandparents and great-grandparents make it to their 80s and 90s without 21st century medical science and knowing how many things were so bad for them?

I guess my family were just freaks of nature.

[Logical]

3. LOL, do you work for a tobacco company? You are the only person I know who.....

acts like smoking is a good thing and would encourage people to start smoking.

I have never met someone so pro-smoking. It cracks me up.

Keep smoking away, just keep it away form us non-smokers!