World No Tobacco Day 2026: Focusing on the Impact of Tobacco and Nicotine Exposure on Newborns, Children, and Young Adults

Exposure to tobacco and nicotine across early life stages poses substantial and enduring health risks. Prenatal exposure through maternal smoking and environmental sources disrupts foetal lung development and is associated with increased risk of respiratory infections and childhood asthma. Longer-term consequences include heightened susceptibility to metabolic disorders, cardiovascular disease, and immune dysfunction. Postnatal exposure to secondhand smoke further compounds these risks and contributes to adverse developmental and respiratory outcomes.Beyond secondary exposure, adolescence represents a critical developmental stage where children are particularly vulnerable to initiating smoking themselves. This is driven by a complex interplay of factors, including peer influence, family use, school and social pressures, and targeted marketing in the media and social media. Early initiation increases the likelihood of nicotine dependence and long-term health consequences. The rapid rise of electronic cigarette use among youth has further complicated prevention efforts and introduced new challenges for tobacco control.These challenges are especially pronounced in low-middle-income countries (LMICs), where over 80% of the world's tobacco users now reside. While many high-income countries have implemented comprehensive tobacco control measures and school-based education, progress in LMICs remains uneven. The tobacco industry has also increasingly targeted LMIC regions as regulations tighten elsewhere. Moreover, evidence syntheses highlight a relative lack of high-quality, culturally tailored, and context-specific research to inform effective prevention and cessation interventions in LMICs.Goal: This Research Topic aims to advance understanding of the impacts of tobacco and nicotine exposure on newborns, children, and young adults, while identifying effective strategies to reduce exposure and prevent uptake across the life course. Despite progress in tobacco control, significant gaps remain in addressing prenatal exposure, protecting children from secondhand smoke, and curbing the growing popularity of emerging nicotine products among adolescents.We seek to highlight interdisciplinary research that elucidates biological mechanisms, developmental outcomes, and social and environmental determinants of exposure, alongside evidence-based interventions and policies to mitigate harm. Emphasis will be placed on global inequities, including the disproportionate burden in LMICs and vulnerable populations.By bringing together contributions from clinical, public health, behavioural, and policy perspectives, this Research Topic aims to inform prevention and cessation strategies, support the development of targeted interventions, and contribute to global efforts aligned with World No Tobacco Day 2026.Scope: We welcome a variety of submission types, including Original Research Studies, Systematic Reviews, Reviews and Mini Reviews, Policy and Practice Reviews, Policy Briefs, Clinical Trials, Brief Research Reports, Opinions and Perspectives, Study Protocols, and Community Case Studies.We are interested in the following themes, but also welcome submissions related to the research area in general:• Research on tobacco and nicotine use during pregnancy, including determinants of maternal smoking, other sources of exposure, and impacts on foetal development, birth outcomes, and long-term child health.• Studies examining prenatal and early-life exposure to tobacco and nicotine, including secondhand and environmental exposure in infancy and childhood.• Investigations into the biological and mechanistic pathways linking prenatal and early-life exposure to adverse health outcomes across the life course.• Studies examining the prevalence, trends, risk factors, and protective factors for tobacco and nicotine use among children and adolescents.• Research on the uptake, use patterns, and health impacts of emerging nicotine products (e.g., e-cigarettes) among young people.• Evaluations of interventions aimed at preventing initiation or promoting cessation of tobacco and nicotine use particularly among pregnant women, parents, children, and adolescents.• Studies assessing the role of social, environmental, and commercial determinants, including media and digital marketing influences on youth and parental smoking.• Research addressing global disparities, with a focus on LMICs, including culturally tailored and context-specific prevention and control strategies.• The impact of globalization and the political context (e.g., changing tobacco control contexts).• Research investigating how the tobacco industry continues to innovate, repackage, and market its products to target children and adolescents while circumventing evolving tobacco control measures worldwide – aligned with the World Health Organization's theme for World No Tobacco Day 2026, "Unmasking the appeal – countering nicotine and tobacco addiction". Topic editors: Jennifer Marie Murray, Mona Mohamed Aboelkhair Alsadek Radwan, Dr. Maryam Ba-Break Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/80772/world-no-tobacco-day-2026-focusing-on-the-impact-of-tobacco-and-nicotine-exposure-on-newborns-children-and-young-adults