The pediatrician's role in reducing tobacco exposure in children

Objective. Pediatricians have a unique and important role to play in the pr evention and treatment of childhood and adolescent tobacco use, the protect ion of patients from the harmful effects of environmental tobacco smoke, an d the encouragement of smoking cessation among parents. However, because re cent research indicates that physician training in tobacco dependence is wo efully weak and lacks a model for training, this article constructs a usefu l approach to this problem. Methodology. A comprehensive review of the literature served as the basis f or the development of a new model for pediatrician training in tobacco depe ndence. Results. A comprehensive model is presented for training pediatricians in t he areas of reducing infant and child exposure to environmental tobacco smo ke, preventing youth smoking initiation, and providing smoking cessation as sistance for adolescents and parents. Conclusions. Pediatricians have been called on to play an active role in th e antitobacco arena. Because of their unique opportunity to interact with c hildren, adolescents, and parents, pediatricians can and should be antitoba cco interventionists. For this to occur, however, additional guidance shoul d be provided to pediatricians during their training to better prepare them to carry out effective assessment and intervention practices.