Researchers at the Nationwide Children's Hospital & Research Institute at Ohio State University in Columbus found:
- There was a link between the amount of secondhand smoke exposure and a marker of vascular injury in toddlers. This link was two times greater in toddlers who were obese.
- Obese adolescents exposed to secondhand smoke had two times the evidence of vascular injury compared to normal-weight adolescents.
- Toddlers had a four times greater risk of secondhand smoke exposure when compared to adolescents, despite having similar reported home exposures.
- Toddlers exposed to secondhand smoke had a 30% reduction in circulating vascular endothelial progenitor cells, a cell type involved in repair and maintaining a healthy blood vessel network.
For this study, the researchers at the Nationwide Children's Hospital & Research Institute recruited 52 toddlers (ages 2-5) and 107 adolescents (ages 9-18). source