Mary Jane Ashley

Reducing children’s exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in homes: issues and strategies

It is now well established that children’s exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) results in substantial public health and economic impacts. Children are more likely than adults to suffer health effects from ETS exposure, and the home is the most important site of such exposure.  Although the responsibility and authority of the community and health professionals to protect children from harm are entrenched in North American society, social, economic, legal, and political factors contribute to a lower level of support for ETS control measures in homes compared with workplaces and public places. It is now clear that ETS control in home environments must be a priority on the public health agenda. Programme and policy options and strategies for ETS control in home environments are outlined. We conclude that the current research base is inadequate to fully support programme and policy development in this area and priorities for research are identified.

Smoking in the home: changing attitudes and current practices.

OBJECTIVES Trends in attitudes and current practices concerning smoking in the home were examined. METHODS Data from population-based surveys of adults in Ontario, Canada, were analyzed. RESULTS Between 1992 and 1996, the percentage of respondents who agreed that parents spending time at home with small children should not smoke increased from 51% to 70%. In 1996, 34% of the homes surveyed were smoke-free. Smoke-free homes were associated with nonsmoking respondents and with the presence of children and no daily smokers in the home. Only 20% of homes with children and any daily smokers were smoke-free. CONCLUSIONS Efforts are needed to assist parents in reducing childrens exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in the home.

Political ideology and tobacco control

“More powerful than vested interests, more subtle than science, political ideology has, in the end, the greatest influence on disease prevention policy.” Sylvia Noble Tesh1 It is widely acknowledged that strong tobacco control policies are a crucial part of a comprehensive approach to reduce the health and economic impacts of tobacco use.2 Legislators, commissioners, and city councillors ultimately determine what policies are enacted and maintained. Yet, we know relatively little about the factors that influence elected officials to support or oppose these policies. Political scientists who traditionally study legislator voting behaviour often include measures of ideology in their analyses. However, health researchers have generally neglected political ideology in their studies of legislative outcomes related to tobacco control. Political ideology includes assumptions about whether the ultimate responsibility for health lies with the individual or with society, and whether the government has a right, or even a responsibility, to regulate individual behaviour and commercial activity to protect and promote the public good. The ideological arguments that most often come into play in discussions of public health policies tend to pit the duty of government to intervene to protect the health of its citizens against the right of individuals to make their own choices.3 Ideological arguments abound in debates about health issues, many of which are not new. Twenty years ago, Beauchamp wrote about the “growing tensions between the goals of protecting the public health and individual liberty”.4 About the same time, Baker described how ideological arguments regarding personal liberty were put forth to oppose mandating the use of motorcycle helmets and had been used for decades to delay milk pasteurisation.5 Arguments against fluoridation of public water supplies span five decades, with a prominent objection being the violation of individual rights.6-8 Of course, arguments in favour of …

Tobacco commerce on the internet: a threat to comprehensive tobacco control

Although internet use continues to increase and e-commerce sales are expected to exceed US

Alcohol and breast cancer mortality in a cohort study

1 trillion by the end of 2001, there have been few assessments in the literature regarding the implications of this medium for tobacco control efforts. This commentary explores the challenges that the internet may pose to the key components of a comprehensive tobacco control strategy, and pinpoints potential approaches for addressing these challenges. Four key challenges that the internet presents for tobacco control are identified: unrestricted sales to minors; cheaper cigarettes through tax avoidance and smuggling; unfettered advertising, marketing and promotion; and continued normalisation of the tobacco industry and its products. Potential strategies for addressing these challenges include international tobacco control agreements, national and state regulation, and legal remedies.

Beyond Ischemic Heart Disease: Are There other Health Benefits from Drinking Alcohol?:

Available epidemiological evidence indicates that alcohol intake is associated with a higher risk of developing breast cancer. Plausible biological pathways include its effect on levels of estrogens, cell membrane integrity and cell-to-cell communication, inhibition of DNA repair, and congener effect. The present study evaluated the impact of alcohol on mortality from breast cancer, an area with relatively few studies in the literature. The subjects were participants in a Canadian prospective cohort study, the National Breast Screening Study (NBSS). Women were enrolled in the cohort from 1980 to 1985 to evaluate the efficacy of mammographic screening. Information on usual diet and alcohol intake at enrolment and other epidemiological variables was collected by means of a mailed, self-administered questionnaire. Mortality from breast cancer during follow- up to 31 December, 1993 was ascertained by record linkage to the Canadian Mortality Data Base maintained by Statistics Canada. During the follow-up period of 1980–1993 (average 10.3 years), 223 deaths from breast cancer were identified for this analysis. The hazard ratios for the risk of death from breast cancer increased with intakes of total alcohol of 10–20 g/day (1.039, 1.009–1.071) and > 20 g/day (1.063, 1.029–1.098). This increase was contributed largely by the intake of wine, a 15% increase in risk at intakes higher than 10 g/day of alcohol from wine. Alcohol from spirits was associated with a small decrease in risk of death (hazard ratio at 10 g/day, 0.945, 0.915–0.976). The effect of alcohol from beer was not significant in the two categories studied. Although our results were statistically significant, the magnitude of the change in risk was small.

Protecting children from passive smoking: The risks are clear and a comprehensive strategy is now needed

Evidence is growing that alcohol consumption confers health benefits beyond protection from ischemic heart disease. We review this evidence with regard to cerebrovascular disease, peripheral vascular disease, diabetes, cholelithiasis (gallstones), cognitive functioning, and stress reduction and subjective psychosocial benefits. Other possible benefits are briefly considered. The weight of evidence suggests that low-level alcohol consumption offers some protection against ischemic stroke. The evidence that moderate alcohol consumption protects against diabetes and gallstones is also fairly strong. The possibility of other health benefits cannot be dismissed. For all the conditions considered, more research is indicated. The application of more appropriate statistical techniques, studies of patterns of drinking, and experimental approaches to delineating underlying mechanisms should enable firmer conclusions to be drawn. A better understanding of both the benefits and the risks of alcohol use for individuals and populations will facilitate the development of appropriate program and policy interventions to promote health.

Alcohol consumption and blood pressure: analysis of data from the Canada Health Survey.

Papers pp 333, 337, 343 Environmental tobacco smoke is a serious health risk to children. Regulatory measures to protect children, such as eliminating smoking in day care settings, schools, and public places, do not address their main source of exposure to tobacco smoke—their homes. Formal structures for protecting children in the home are usually only used in certain circumstances involving custody and adoption,1 and legislation to ban smoking in homes is unlikely, so other strategies to reduce childrens exposure to environmental tobacco smoke must be put in place. In this issue of the BMJ , three separate but thematically related papers provide support for a comprehensive approach to protect children from environmental tobacco smoke.2–4 Jarvis et al report that much of the reduction in exposure among English children aged 11–15 that occurred between 1988 and 1998 was due to reduced prevalence of parental smoking, as well as reduced smoking …

The Ontario ban on smoking on school property : Issues and challenges in enforcement

Recent epidemiologic studies report a significant association between alcohol consumption and elevations in both systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressures. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a multivariate analysis of physical examination and other data on 721 men and 697 women aged 20 or more collected during the Canada Health Survey in 1978-1979. SBP and DBP were considered as separate dependent variables in multiple regression models with the following independent variables: age, alcohol consumption (measured as a 7-day recall history and as an average frequency of consumption), serum cholesterol, plasma glucose, physical activity, Quetelet index, parental history of hypertension, cigarette consumption, income, education, and exogenous hormonal use in women. In both weighted and unweighted multiple regression analyses, we could not demonstrate for either sex, a significant association between alcohol consumption (as recorded and following quadratic and logarithmic transformations) and either SBP or DBP. For both sexes, only age and Quetelet index were highly significantly (P less than 0.0001) and consistently associated with both SBP and DBP. No other independent variables were consistently associated, for either sex, with SBP and DBP. Further, the dose-response patterns noted by other investigators suggesting either a positive and linear relationship or a curvilinear relationship were not found in either our univariate or multivariate analyses. Rather, the alcohol-blood pressure curves showed no consistent patterns of any kind in either sex. These findings do not support recent claims that alcohol consumption is a determinant of elevations in either SBP or DBP.

Is nicotine dependence related to smokers' support for restrictions on smoking?

We document implementation and enforcement activities undertaken by high schools and health units with regard to the 1994 ban on smoking on school property in Ontario. Telephone interviews were conducted in the early summer of 1996 with 213 high school administrators and 38 tobacco enforcement personnel in health units. While some schools are unclear about enforcement responsibility, most are making efforts to enforce the ban, including warning and suspending students. Some school administrators (30%) suggest the reinstitution of designated smoking areas on school property. One quarter of health units had not made enforcement visits in schools in the 1995-96 school year and a minority accounted for most of the warnings and tickets issued to students. While most tobacco enforcement officers perceive that schools support the ban, they report some problems in obtaining cooperation in enforcement. However, only 11% suggest returning to designated smoking areas on school property.