Child health, asthma, secondhand smoke and harm reduction approaches in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

摘要

Low income populations have higher rates of cigarette smoking and a correspondingly higher prevalence of childhood asthma. Some aspects of a harm reduction approach (HRA) to limiting children's exposure to cigarette smoke were introduced at Better Beginnings, Better Futures Research Demonstration sites. The theoretical linkages among HRA, secondhand smoke, asthma, and child health were explored in this study.;Purpose. This study describes harm reduction approaches in five low income, Better Beginnings neighbourhoods from 1994 to 1998. Approaches in each neighbourhood were expected to vary in mode of delivery. It was hypothesized that neighbourhoods with a more intense, systematic, direct to family harm reduction approach, would have significantly lower children's exposure rates to secondhand smoke and consequently better child health and less asthma.;Methods. IRAs at each site were described based on on-site interviews with key informants. A quasi-experimental study using a longitudinal, comparative design described the differences among IRAs in 567 children at 18, 33, and 48 months of age. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)