BACKGROUND: Narghile is a resurging smoking device. However, little research has been done to assess passive smoking exposure. The objective of the present study is to evaluate the exposure of pre-school age children in Beirut to parental passive smoking from cigarette and/or narghile. METHODS: Data were collected from 1057 pre-school age children attending 16 day cares and 7 nursery schools in the city of Beirut. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of parental smoking (cigarette and/or narghile) was 53.3%. Ten per cent of respondents reported smoking only narghile. Fathers were significantly more likely than mothers to smoke cigarettes. However, there was no significant difference between fathers and mothers with respect to smoking narghile only. Education was a significant predictor for smoking cigarettes but not for smoking narghile. CONCLUSION: Narghile smoking appears to follow different gender and social patterns than cigarette smoking. Further research is needed to establish the determinants of narghile smoking, in order to develop adequate prevention policies.