Abstract
There is increasing evidence that the life-course origins of health and development begin before conception. We examined associations between timing and frequency of preconception cannabis and tobacco use and next generation preterm birth (PTB), low birth weight (LBW) and small for gestational age. 665 participants in a general population cohort were repeatedly assessed on tobacco and cannabis use between ages 14–29 years, before pregnancy. Associations were estimated using logistic regression. Preconception parent (either maternal or paternal) daily cannabis use age 15–17 was associated with sixfold increases in the odds of offspring PTB (aOR 6.65, 95% CI 1.92, 23.09), and offspring LBW (aOR 5.84, 95% CI 1.70–20.08), after adjusting for baseline sociodemographic factors, parent sex, offspring sex, family socioeconomic status, parent mental health at baseline, and concurrent tobacco use. There was little evidence of associations with preconception parental cannabis use at other ages or preconception parental tobacco use. Findings support the hypothesis that the early life origins of growth begin before conception and provide a compelling rationale for prevention of frequent use during adolescence. This is pertinent given liberalisation of cannabis policy.
Highlights
There is increasing evidence that the life-course origins of health and development begin before conception
We report the crude prevalence of each birth outcome (PTB, low birth weight (LBW) and small for gestational age (SGA)) by frequency of preconception substance use and antenatal tobacco/cannabis exposure
preterm birth (PTB) or LBW were observed in only 11–13% of offspring whose parents reported daily cannabis use at either age [20,21,22,23,24] or age 29
Summary
There is increasing evidence that the life-course origins of health and development begin before conception. We examined associations between timing and frequency of preconception cannabis and tobacco use and generation preterm birth (PTB), low birth weight (LBW) and small for gestational age. Preconception parent (either maternal or paternal) daily cannabis use age [15,16,17] was associated with sixfold increases in the odds of offspring PTB (aOR 6.65, 95% CI 1.92, 23.09), and offspring LBW (aOR 5.84, 95% CI 1.70–20.08), after adjusting for baseline sociodemographic factors, parent sex, offspring sex, family socioeconomic status, parent mental health at baseline, and concurrent tobacco use. Findings support the hypothesis that the early life origins of growth begin before conception and provide a compelling rationale for prevention of frequent use during adolescence This is pertinent given liberalisation of cannabis policy. Given that use in pregnancy is increasingly c ommon[22,23,24], with shifts in legalisation potentially increasing its availability, maternal cannabis use is attracting policy a ttention[25,26,27,28]
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