Smoking Bans: You've Come a Long Way, Baby

Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, MD, MS

Preterm birth rates dropped by 10% following enactment of smoke-free legislation in Europe and North America.

Despite the well-known harms of secondhand smoke, many communities have yet to enact smoke-free legislation. To assess the effects of such policies on pregnancy outcomes and risk for childhood asthma, researchers conducted a meta-analysis of five North American and six European studies involving >2.5 million pregnancies and 247,168 asthma exacerbations.

Following the introduction of smoke-free policies, reductions of 10% were promptly seen in rates of preterm birth and very-small-for-gestational-age birth. In addition, rates of pediatric asthma exacerbations fell by 10%.

Citation(s):

Been JV et al. Effect of smoke-free legislation on perinatal and child health: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet 2014 May 3; 383:1549.

Kalkhoran S and Glantz SA.Smoke-free policies: Cleaning the air with money to spare. Lancet 2014 May 3; 383:1526.