Study Found Connection Between Mother’s Smoking and Kid’s Obesity

A new study found that children of females who smoke cigarettes during their pregnancy and are overweight, are more likely to become obese as toddlers, and remain obese in their teenage. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during the past years in the USA the rates of obesity have significantly increased among

Secondhand Smoke and Pregnancy

Every time, a pregnant woman is exposed to smoking, her foetus is precariously exposed to meet with intra-uterine deaths, say experts. The pulmonologists testify that in a state like Kerala where the prevalence rate of smoking is high, such premature deaths will definitely be a recurring phenomenon.

“Around 1.5 lakh people die of passive smoking in the country. Hence, it will not be wrong to presume that intra-uterine deaths are happening in the state which has topped the country with high prevalence smoking rate than the national average,” said Dr Babu John Mathew, consultant general physician, Medical Trust Hospital.

Intra-uterine deaths usually happen when the mother is an excessive smoker. “But here, the scenario is different. Here, the prevalence of smoking in women is not as high as it is in other parts of the country. But if the child’s father is an active smoker, it is beyond doubt that the mother will be highly exposed to smoking,” he pointed out.

Dr Praveen Valsalan, secretary, Cochin Thoracic Society, pointed out that, when the world scenario is taken into account, almost half of the children regularly breathe air polluted by tobacco smoke in public places. “Over 40 per cent of children have at least one smoking parent and active smoking causes more than 6,00,000 premature deaths a year.

The scenario will not be much different in the state which is known for smoking. The curse of our state is that an in-depth study has not been initiated here so far,” he said. The medical literature states that intra-uterine foetal demise can happen due to smoking, said Dr Sheila Scaria, a gynaecologist based in Kochi . “Though we cannot identify such incidents easily, the chances of premature deaths in babies are high due to both active and passive smoking. The scenario will not be different in any part of the world which is exposed to smoking,” she said.

Asked if such deaths have been reported in any parts of the state, they said: “It is not easy to identify such deaths which is a major hurdle. No research or studies have been undertaken in this regard so far. Besides, it is a long-winding procedure. If any such death happens, the whole family history will have to be traced,” said Dr Babu John. He added that while most of the smokers are honest about smoking in Western countries, Keralites try to cover it up when it comes to initiating any study in this regard.

Smoking During Pregnancy May Make Daughter Dependent on Nicotine

Researchers say that women’s smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of her daughter becoming hooked on nicotine in adult age. In the journal Biological Psychiatry recently there were published results of a study that found that females who smoke during their pregnancy are at higher risks of their daughters becoming addicted to smoking later in

Smoking During Pregnancy Can Hike Daughter’s Risk of Nicotine Addiction

Experts have warned that tobacco smoking by pregnant women may adversely affect the developing fetus. Smoking during pregnancy is linked to numerous negative outcomes, including low birth weight, sudden infant death syndrome, and increased risk for attention deficit disorder, conduct disorder, and nicotine use in offspring.

Nevertheless, it is estimated that 13 percent -30 percent of women in the United States continue to smoke while pregnant. A new 40-year study, published in the journal Biological Psychiatry, provides additional evidence that prenatal exposure to maternal stress hormones predicts nicotine dependence later in life.

The new findings, however, suggests the nicotine dependence occurs only for daughters. It also confirms previous research that babies born to moms who smoked when pregnant have an increased risk of nicotine addiction in adulthood.

“While maternal smoking during pregnancy has been shown to be an independent risk factor for nicotine dependence, we didn’t really know which pathways or mechanisms were responsible. Most prior research involving biological mechanisms had been conducted in animals not humans,” said Dr. Laura Stroud, the first author on this study.

“Our study suggests that maternal smoking and high stress hormones represent a ‘double-hit’ in terms of increasing an offspring’s risk for nicotine addiction as an adult.“Because mothers who smoke are often more stressed and living in adverse conditions — these findings represent a major public health concern.”

To conduct the study, Stroud and her colleagues used data from a large, national, long-term project that began in 1959 and enrolled over 50,000 pregnant women. The offspring of those women were ultimately followed by researchers for 40 years.

For this particular project, 1,086 mothers participated, where their hormone levels (cortisol and testosterone) were measured during pregnancy and their smoking status was recorded. Their children, 649 of whom were daughters and 437 of whom were sons, were interviewed as adults and their smoking status was also recorded.

The findings revealed that in female but not male offspring, elevated prenatal cortisol exposure and exposure to maternal smoking during pregnancy were associated with increased rates of nicotine dependence as adults. No links were found between elevated prenatal testosterone exposure and adult nicotine dependence. There were also no findings among male offspring.