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Cigarettes eat the people’s money and the children’s food, according to a recent study. Children who live in households with smokers can have not a full stomach every time, the researchers reported. Rates of severe food insecurity are more than tripled for those children who live in homes with smokers, found researchers.

For to assess the relationship between food insecurity and household smoking researchers analyzed data on 8,817 households with children under 18 years old. At the end of this research they found that almost a quarter of the households had an annual income below the poverty level, and almost half were classified as low-income families.

About 23% of households with children included at least one adult smoker, and 32% of children in low-income households lived with a smoker compared with 15% of those in more rich households. Overall, 15% of adults and 11% of children experienced some degree of food insecurity during the previous 12 months, with 6% of adults and 1% of children experiencing severe food insecurity.

But they found that the highest rates of food insecurity were in children living in low-income households with smokers (25% versus 17% for low-income homes without smokers). This study helped researchers to understand once again that families with low income, in general, are more likely to spend less on food and spend a larger percentage of money on tobacco compared with more rich families.

Why smokers spend more money on cigarettes than on food? The answer is very clear and simple: only because smokers have different dietary attitudes and behaviors than nonsmokers, and this may extend to feeding practices of their children as well.