Findings: 55% of households in our sample had at
least one regular smoker. Smoking indoors was
common. In 30% of households, smoking occurred in
the presence of children, exposing nearly 40% of
children to SHS. Overall, we found a lack of awareness
about the harms associated with second-hand
smoking.
Conclusions: Our study highlights that a sizeable
proportion of children and non-smokers are exposed to
SHS at homes in Bangladesh, posing a significant and
grave public health problem. In the absence of any
impetus to legislate against smoking in private places,
an educational approach is recommended to change
smoking practices at home. Such a shift toward
voluntary smoking restrictions at home would require
behaviour change among smokers and support from
non-smoking family members.