Exposure to household smoking during childhood may predict adult smoking habits

Hispanic children who lived with smokers while growing up are twice as likely to smoke in adulthood, especially among Cuban and Puerto Rican populations, according to recently published data in Preventative Medicine. “Childhood exposure to [household cigarette smoking behavior] nearly doubled the risk of being current cigarette smokers compared to those who were never exposed…Our data suggest that children who grow up in a smoking household environment are more likely to initiate smoking through observation and imitation,” E.L. Navas-Nacher, PhD, Institute for Minority Health Research, University of Illinois at Chicago and colleagues wrote.