Early childhood exposure to maternal smoking and obesity: A nationwide longitudinal survey in Japan

This study utilized a nationwide, population-based longitudinal survey. The participants were restricted to 32  081 children who had available information on maternal smoking history as well as childhood height and weight. We conducted a binomial log–linear regression analysis with children of non-smoking mothers as the reference group. The children with mothers who were smokers had a higher risk of deve loping obesity or being overweight compared to the children with mothers who were nonsmokers. The risk ratios were 1.20 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.09–1.32) for overweight and 1.17 (95% CI: 0.95–1.44) for obesity. Early exposure to maternal smoking increases the risk of being overweight and having obesity during childhood. The increased risk is more pronounced among children with mothers, smoked heavily, or parents, who were smokers.
Source: Clinical Obesity - Category: Eating Disorders & Weight Management Authors: Tags: ORIGINAL RESEARCH Source Type: research