Vaping Family Members Raise Kids’ Asthma Risks

Smoking parents who think switching to vapes might ease risks for their asthmatic child may want to think again.

A study of more than 48,000 doctor visits for kids with asthma found the odds for asthma attacks rose in homes where someone vaped.

“Many parents believe e-cigarettes are a safer alternative to cigarettes, both for themselves and for their children’s health. Our findings suggest that assumption doesn’t fully hold up for kids with asthma,” said lead author Dr. Brian Jenssen, an associate professor of pediatrics and a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. 

His team presented its findings today in San Diego at a meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The study analyzed data from 48,000 clinic visits in a large U.S. pediatric care network. All of the visits occurred over a 33-month period and included children with asthma, age 1 and older, whose caregivers reported tobacco and e-cigarette use in the home.

Overall, 9% of visits had both tobacco and e-cigarettes in the child’s home, 5% reported use of tobacco only and 3% reported vaping only.

The combo of using both tobacco cigarettes and vaping in the home led to the highest levels of asthma flare-ups in kids. Asthma-related incidents included night-time and activity-related asthma symptoms, higher use of rescue inhalers and more hospital admissions, the researchers said.

However, secondhand exposure to just smoking or vaping alone was still linked with a higher incidence of asthma flares and activity-linked symptoms in kids, Jenssen’s group reported.

“There is no safe level of tobacco or e-cigarette exposure when it comes to children,” Jenssen said in a news release. “Parents and caregivers who use any tobacco or nicotine products should make every effort to quit.”

He said quitting smoking should not involve a move to vaping, but rather “evidence-based options like varenicline, nicotine replacement therapy and counseling.”

Because these findings were presented at a medical meeting, they should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

Find out more about how to quit smoking and vaping at the American Heart Association.

SOURCE: American Academy of Pediatrics, news release, Oct. 2, 2026