Home Tobacco Smoke Exposure and Neighborhood Support and Safety among U.S. School-Aged Children

Abstract

Children who are socioeconomically disadvantaged face a myriad of environmental hardships in the neighborhoods in which they live. This study examined the associations between home tobacco smoke exposure (TSE) and neighborhood support, neighborhood safety, and school safety among U.S. school- aged children. Children ages 6-11 years were included in this secondary analysis of 2018-2019 National Survey of Children’s Health data (N = 17,300). Children’s home TSE status was categorized into three levels: (1) no TSE: Child did not live with a smoker; (2) Outside TSE only: Child lived with a smoker who did not smoke inside the home; and (3) Inside TSE: Child lived with a smoker who smoked inside the home. Parent-reported measures of perceived neighborhood support, and neighborhood and school safety were examined; covariates included the child’s age, sex, and race/ethnicity; the parent’s education; the family’s household structure, and federal poverty level. Weighted logistic and ordinal regression models were built adjusting for the covariates. In total, 13.2% of children had outside TSE and 1.7% of children had inside TSE. Multivariable logistic regression model results indicated that children with outside TSE were at decreased odds (AOR = 0.79, 95%CI = 0.65-0.96) of living in a supportive neighborhood compared to children with no TSE. Ordinal regression model results indicated that children with outside TSE (AOR = 0.77, 95%CI = 0.61-0.97) and children with inside TSE were at decreased odds (AOR = 0.62, 95%CI = 0.39-0.99) of going to a school that was perceived as safe. Community-level programs, policies, and funding are needed to improve neighborhood characteristics among children with TSE to improve their future health outcomes.

Keywords

• tobacco smoke exposure
• neighborhood
• school
• school safety
• children