Maternal smoking and child morbidity in the Philippines
Date
2017-01
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Abstract
Despite several studies on the dangers of smoking, many people largely
underestimate the adverse effects of smoking, particularly, passive smoking on young children whose exposure to tobacco smoke is involuntary. To provide evidence of adverse effects of passive smoking on children’s health, we estimate the impact of maternal tobacco smoking on the incidence of (a) acute respiratory infection, and (b) diarrheal disease among children below 5 years old in the Philippines. We employ propensity score matching method on a subsample of children culled from the 2013 National Demographic Health Survey. We find that the incidence of acute respiratory infection symptoms increases by 3.3 percentage points in children whose mothers smoke. Likewise, the incidence of diarrhea is higher by 5.3 percentage points in children who are exposed to secondhand smoke from mothers. The results of this study may provide supplemental information significant to efforts of the government relative to tobacco control, such as the information dissemination campaigns in relation to the adverse effects of smoking, Sin Tax Law, and the Graphic Health Warnings Law.