Smoking in pregnancy is associated with increased adiposity and retinal arteriolar wall-to-lumen ratio in adolescence: The Copenhagen Child Cohort Study 2000.

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To investigate the association between prenatal exposures and anthropometric data and cardiovascular risk factors including retinal arteriolar wall-to-lumen ratio in adolescence. This longitudinal observational study included all 1445 adolescents from the Copenhagen Child Cohort 2000 who attended the 2016-2017 examination. Outcome measures included retinal arteriolar wall-to-lumen ratio, height, body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, body composition measured by bioimpedance, and blood pressure. Information on prenatal exposures (birth weight, gestational age, maternal smoking during pregnancy) as well as sex, parental age, household income and parental educational levels were obtained from national registries. Associations between exposures and outcome measures were analyzed using general linear models. Maternal smoking during pregnancy was associated with a higher retinal arteriolar wall-to-lumen ratio (0.004 or 1.9%, P=0.009) at age 16/17years, an association driven exclusively by the female participants (0.008 or 3.7%, P<0.0001). Maternal smoking during pregnancy was also associated to higher body-mass index (1.43kg/m2, P<0.0001), waist-to-hip ratio (0.02, P<0.0001) and fat mass index (0.93kg/m2, P<0.0001). Birth weight, gestational age, and parental age had no detectable impact on retinal arteriolar wall-to-lumen ratios. Prenatal exposure to tobacco smoking is associated with a higher risk of obesity and, predominantly in girls, to a greater retinal arteriolar wall thickness, which suggests that maternal smoking may induce an unfavorable cardiovascular and metabolic risk profile in the child.