Harlem Word: Aleah Gathings shares how secondhand smoke can affect non-smokers's health

Aleah Gathings, MPH, worked with the Manhattan Smoke-Free Partnership in East Harlem until Summer 2024 when she moved to Chicago to attend Law School. Ms. Gathings will continue to be part of the HHPC Health Advisory Board [1]. Here she tells us about what secondhand smoke is and what to do if you are a non-smoker living with a smoker.

Q: What is secondhand smoke and how does it affect non-smokers?

A: Secondhand smoke is smoke that is in the air from a lit tobacco product such as a cigar or cigarette. It is dangerous to everyone around it. This smoke can increase risk of heart attacks, lung disease and can trigger asthma [2] attacks, even in the people who are not smoking. Asthma is a major concern in Harlem, having the highest rate of children with asthma compared to all other neighborhoods in NYC, and lowering rates of asthma is a huge part of trying to prevent chronic disease [3] in children.

The Manhattan Smoke-Free Partnership is working to educate parents on the importance of not smoking at home because of the danger it creates for giving young children asthma. Even if parents can't quit smoking, simply going outside to smoke decreases the amount of secondhand smoking the children are being exposed to, which lowers the chances that their children will develop asthma.

Q: Do you have any advice for non-smokers living with smokers?

A: Communication and compromise are important. As a non-smoker, you don't want to put your health at risk by constantly breathing in secondhand smoke, but also you have to understand that smoking is an addiction and it may not be easy for a smoker to quit. If you talk to the smoker and kindly ask him/her to step outside to smoke, compromises can be made. Using the right tone and explaining that secondhand smoke is a risk to the health of non-smokers is helpful. You have to show that you are understanding, but that you don't want to put your own health in danger.

Q: What are some things that make it hard for people to quit smoking?

A: Tobacco companies target youth, low-income communities and communities of color, therefore, not all communities have the same chance of smoking or the same chances of quitting smoking. For example, Harlem is a big target area for tobacco companies' advertisements. Like other communities of color in the US, Harlem has a lot more advertisements, and the sizes of the advertisements are much larger.

Many of the posters we see in our communities are life-sized and filled with familiar images that target youth. For example, the Newport cigarette symbol is an upside-down Nike sign, which many kids relate to. Children who start smoking at a young age smoke the most advertised brands of cigarettes. It's interesting because the most advertised brands are also the most smoked cigarette brands. We are trying to educate the youth in Harlem to let them know that smoking is harmful to their bodies, and that they shouldn't fall for the advertising that's targeted at them. We have made some connections with school counselors in the area and are looking to presentations to students during the school year.

Harlem Word is a series of interviews with community health experts written by HHPC and approved by our Health Advisory Board.