Children born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy face a significantly higher risk of becoming overweight compared to those whose mothers avoided nicotine exposure.
Researchers at Erasmus MC drew this conclusion from the large-scale Generation R study involving 5,000 children. The analysis examined the influence of parental smoking during pregnancy on children's growth after birth.
Overweight Risk
Mothers who continued smoking during pregnancy were 50 percent more likely to have an overweight child later in life. Children of mothers who quit smoking during pregnancy, or of fathers who smoked, showed no increased risk.
Growth Concerns The precise mechanism remains unclear, but these children are shorter in height until age four, while their weight continues to increase.
