Simple Facts About Smoking

Cigarette smoking imposes a tremendous burden on individuals and families, as well as the nation. Lost work hours, increased health care costs and chronic diseases are but a few of the negative effects of smoking. Smoking has led to "at least 30 percent of all cancer deaths, or accountable for nearly 80 percent of deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease," suggests the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

Impact On Children

• The impact on your child's health can be very dramatic. "In fact, each year about 150,000 to 300,000 children younger than 18 months old experience respiratory tract infections caused by secondhand smoke," suggests the National Institute for Drug Abuse website. The website also states that if your child is exposed to secondhand smoke, this can result in an increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome.

Smoking During Pregnancy

• Smoking during pregnancy is harmful for both the expectant mother and unborn child. Expectant mothers who smoke are at risk for giving birth to a low-weight baby, or causing lifetime disabilities in the child such as mental retardation or cerebral palsy, says the March of Dimes. "If all pregnant women in this country stopped smoking, there would be an estimated 11 percent reduction in stillbirths and 5 percent reduction in newborn deaths," according to the foundation's website.

Economic Burden

• The tremendous economic burden to the nation resulting from cigarette smoking has increased the cost to our health care system, according to the CDC's website. The combined loss of employee productivity as well as health care employer expenditures during the 2001 to 2004 was approximately $97 billion, the agency says. "The total economic burden of smoking is approximately $193 billion per year," according to the website.