Children of centers of infantile education and the passive smoking

Abstract

Smoking is responsible for cases of cancer and for diseases in the system and several organs of the human body, causing three million deaths a year all over the world. It is the most aggressive source of environmental pollution, mainly for children exposed to secondhand smoke. By staying in Childhood Education Centers (CEIs) during the day, the children interact with other children and with adults that somehow can exercise influence in their social, mental, physical and psychological development. The present quanti-qualitative research type carried out a data collection through questionnaire applied to the employees of CEIs aiming at to verify the exposition of the children to secondhand smoking, the respect of laws that forbid smoking in public institutions, and the influence of tobacco in the children development. It was noticed that from 288 interviewed employees, 44 were smoking, 10 did not respect the law, and that tobacco exercised some type of influence in the children development, such as when the child imitates the adult that smokes.