Why is secondhand smoke especially harmful to children?

Why is secondhand smoke especially harmful to children?

Linda Hyder Ferry (Associate Professor, Preventive Medicine and Family Medicine, Loma Linda University School of Medicine) gives expert video advice on: What is 'secondhand smoke'?; Is secondhand smoke worse from cigarettes or cigars?; What are the dangers of secondhand smoke? and more...

Children should be protected from things that can prevent them from illness. Secondhand smoke is dangerous. Secondhand smoke is especially dangerous when the human being is very small, and their airways are very absorbent. Their body ratio tolerates toxins at a much more complicated level than an adult does. I would encourage you, if you can protect the breathing space of a child, to do so. You will decrease their upper respiratory infections, you'll improve their functioning in school, and you'll also decrease the likelihood that they'll become smokers in the future, because they don't see smoking modeled among their heroes in their life.