Survey: Secondhand Smoke More Prevalent Among Low-Income Families

A random sample of 2,757 adult caregivers from a 22-county region in Southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana was interviewed for the survey.

(Cincinnati, Oh.) – A recent study shows that exposure to secondhand smoke is more prevalent among low-income families.

Interact for Health’s 2017 Child Well-Being Survey asked parents and guardians in the Greater Cincinnati region whether they allowed people to smoke in their home.

Only seven percent of caregivers said they allowed people to smoke in their home. Nationally, they number is only three percent.

The number was worse in low-income homes. Among tri-state household making 100 percent less of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, 20 percent allow smoking inside.

“While tobacco use overall has declined dramatically in the last two decades, certain groups continue to have disproportionately higher rates, including lower-income populations,” said O’dell Moreno Owens, M.D., M.P.H., President and CEO of Interact for Health. “Thus, it is imperative that we pursue comprehensive tobacco-control efforts that are designed to protect all members of our communities.”

To further the work in the region, Interact for Health is accepting grant proposals from organizations for projects to reduce tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke among low-income adults and youth in the Greater Cincinnati region.

Over the next five years, up to $700,000 will be awarded to projects to focus on evidence-based tobacco policy change and innovation to reduce tobacco disparities.

For more information, you can read the full Interact for Health Survey at https://www.interactforhealth.org/child-well-being-survey.