Children of smoking parents are more likely to have hearing problems

Children of smoking parents are more likely to experience hearing problems than their non-smoking peers, Japanese experts from Kyoto University said.

Data from over 50 thousand three-year-old children have been analyzed. Some of them were born in smoking families, and were exposed to tobacco smoke at the stage of intrauterine development, Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology reported.

The children who grew up in conditions of high concentrations of tobacco smoke in the air has a high risk of developing hearing problems increasing by 26–30%.

Children who are passive smokers due to the smoking of their parents are 2.4 times more likely to develop illnesses that affect hearing.

Scientists have voiced recommendations in this regard to parents to quit smoking at least at the stage of pregnancy and feeding.