WV TODDLERS EXPERIENCE HIGHEST INCIDENCE OF SECOND-HAND SMOKE

(08/14/2008)

Added to the long list of "West Virginia Worst." West Virginia's low-income children are twice as likely to experience second-hand smoke as children in any other US state. About 23 percent of West Virginia infants and toddlers enrolled in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) supplemental nutrition program live in homes where parents or caregivers smoked last year, according to the state's Office of Nutritional Services. The national average for WIC children living in second-hand smoke (ages 4 and under) was 10.6 percent. Health officials say children exposed to tobacco smoke have higher rates of respiratory illness, ear infections and sudden infant death syndrome. Reports say 52,000 infants and toddlers were enrolled in the state's WIC program in 2007. Earlier reports have shown that the state has the highest rate of pregnant women who smoke in the USA - 27 percent.

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