Parental smoking during pregnancy and risk of overweight and obesity in the daughter

Abstract

ObjectiveEmerging evidence suggests that prenatal exposures may affect long-term health outcomes. In utero exposure to smoking is associated with an increased risk of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents. However, few studies have examined how prenatal exposure to parental smoking influences risk of obesity in adulthood and whether these associations are independent of childhood and adolescent adiposity. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether prenatal exposure to parental smoking influences body size in adulthood and whether any association may be mediated by childhood and adolescent body size.MethodsWe investigated the association between parental smoking during pregnancy and risk of overweight and obesity in adulthood and at age 18, and adiposity during childhood among 35,370 participants in the Nurses’ Health Study II. Data on smoking during pregnancy and socioeconomic variables were provided by the mothers, and anthropometric data and adult risk factors were reported by participants.ResultsAfter adjustment for socioeconomic and behavioral variables, maternal smoking during pregnancy was associated with adiposity at ages 5–10, age 18, and during adulthood. For age 18 overweight the ORs (95% CIs) for 1–14, 15–24, and 25+cigarettes/day were 1.13 (1.18–1.50), 1.40 (1.20–1.64), and 1.15 (0.79–1.69) and for obesity were 1.41 (1.14–1.75), 1.69 (1.31–2.18), and 2.36 (1.44–3.86). The corresponding ORs (95% CIs) for obesity in adulthood were 1.26 (1.16–1.37), 1.46 (1.30–1.63), and 1.43 (1.10–1.86). Risk of adiposity was not increased among daughters whose mothers stopped smoking during the first trimester (OR [95% CI] for overweight (1.03 [95% CI 0.90–1.17] and obesity (1.12 [95% CI 0.97–1.30]). Women whose fathers smoked during pregnancy were also at increased risk of overweight and obesity in adulthood with covariate-adjusted ORs (95% CIs) for obesity of 1.19 (1.11–1.29) for 1–14 cigarettes/day, 1.27 (1.18–1.37) for 15–24 cigarettes/day, and 1.40 (1.27–1.54) for 25+ cigarettes/day compared to fathers who did not smoke (ptrend<0.0001). Paternal smoking during pregnancy was also associated with an increased risk of obesity at age 18 among those whose fathers smoked 15 or more cigarettes/day but was not associated with childhood body size.ConclusionsMaternal smoking during pregnancy was associated in a dose-response manner with overweight and obesity in the daughter through adolescence and adult life. Smoking cessation during the first trimester appears to mitigate this excess risk.Paternal smoking was also associated with risk of overweight and obesity of the adult daughter and this association persisted after adjustment for maternal smoking.