Sept 21 : According to a new study, teens who are exposed to secondhand smoke at home are at a very high risk of failing in a test at school.

The team, lead by author Bradley Collins, Ph.D., assistant professor of public health and director of the Health Behavior Research Clinic at Temple University, found that the odds of passing standardized achievement tests decreased by 30 percent in 16- and 18-year-olds when teens were exposed to secondhand smoke at home.

This was after other known risk factors were also taken into consideration, like — socioeconomic status, gender, prenatal exposure to smoking and active smoking during adolescence.

“Our retrospective study suggests that in adolescents, secondhand smoke exposure could interfere with academic test performance,” said Collins.

Astonishingly, the study found that when the effects of prenatal tobacco exposure and secondhand smoke together were examined, prenatal exposure did not influence test performance anywhere.

“It’s important that we help smoking parents learn how to reduce their children’s exposure to secondhand smoke, a goal that can be achieved without requiring the parent to immediately quit smoking, although that’s the ultimate goal for the health of the entire family,” said Collins.

However, the study did not reveal the reason for secondhand smoke influencing failure.

The study is published in the Journal of Adolescent Health. (ANI)

Tags:Smoking