Research Article Addressing Parental Smoking in Pediatric Settings of Chinese Hospitals: A Qualitative Study of Parents Abu S. Abdullah, 1,2 Zhenyu Ma, 1 Jing Liao, 3 Kaiyong Huang, 1 Li Yang, 1 Zhiyong Zhang, 1 Jonathan P. Winickoff, 4 and Guang-Min Nong 3 1 School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China 2 Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA 3 Department of Pediatrics, Te First Afliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China 4 MGH Center for Child and Adolescent Health Research and Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA Correspondence should be addressed to Abu S. Abdullah; asm.abdullah@graduate.hku.hk and Guang-Min Nong; ngm8525@hotmail.com Received 19 February 2014; Accepted 17 May 2014; Published 29 May 2014 Academic Editor: Giuseppe La Torre Copyright © 2014 Abu S. Abdullah et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Tis study explored factors associated with SHS exposure from parental smoking in Chinese families and assessed nature of antismoking discussions parents had with their children’s pediatricians and how pediatricians might best engage with parents in an efort to reduce children’s exposure to SHS. Six focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted among 33 Chinese parents attending six major hospitals in Guangxi province, China. Most participants (32/33) had family members who smoke, and only 21% had strict restriction on smoking at home. Some parents did not know about health consequences of smoking and efects of SHS exposure on children. Situations that made it especially hard to avoid the child’s SHS exposure were having an elderly smoker at home and having a visitor who smoked. Only few parents were asked by pediatricians about child’s exposure to SHS at home, but only when child’s illness was related to smoking. Parents believed that suggestions coming from pediatricians about smoke-free home and parental quitting would be acceptable to parents and other household members. Te fndings provide insight into SHS exposure reduction efort among Chinese parents and underscore the demand for pediatrician’s engagement in addressing parental tobacco use. 1. Introduction Tobacco use continues to be the leading global cause of preventable death. It kills approximately 6 million people each year, including more than 600,000 nonsmokers who die from exposure to tobacco smoke [1], of which 31% are children [2]. Since adopting the World Health Organiza- tion (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), more than 60 countries have initiated campaigns for smoke-free laws and over 17 countries now have a national law requiring all workplaces and public places to be smoke- free [3]. However, smoke-free laws do not protect children in the home or car, places where children spend much of their time. Although, China has initiated many tobacco control initiatives during the last decade, the prevalence of nonsmokers’ exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS) or tobacco smoke pollution (TSP) [4] has remained relatively constant. National surveys on smoking behavior in 1996 and 2002 reported SHS exposure rate at 53% and 52%, respectively [5]. Another cross-sectional survey conducted in 2004 in six counties of China showed that 48.3% of the nonsmokers were exposed ofen or sometimes to SHS in their household [6]. Given the high prevalence of adult smoking in China, 52.9% in men and 2.4% in women [7], parental smoking has become the major cause of children’s exposure to SHS. Studies have shown that the most common place where children are exposed to SHS is their own homes [8–10]. Te harmful efects of child SHS exposure are well documented [11]. Several interventions have been implemented and evaluated [8, 12]. Te pediatric setting can play an important role in encouraging parents to take measures that will protect their child from SHS exposure [13]. In China, almost 100% of all Hindawi Publishing Corporation BioMed Research International Volume 2014, Article ID 382345, 8 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/382345