In a 2008 survey of women who had recently given birth, approximately 13 percent reported smoking during the last 3 months of pregnancy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking while pregnant has numerous effects on a developing fetus, which can be serious and potentially persist long after birth. In addition to affecting the baby's overall development, research has shown an association between smoking during pregnancy and childhood obesity.
Smoking During Pregnancy
Smoking during pregnancy can have serious and even life-threatening effects on the child. CDC reports that smoking while pregnant increases the risks of the baby being born prematurely, having a low birth weight, or dying of sudden infant death syndrome. If the mother was smoking when she became pregnant, the baby has an increased risk of developing a birth defect, such as a cleft lip or cleft palate.
Obesity and Smoking During Pregnancy
A 7-year study of 2,698 mother-child pairs gathered information about the association between maternal smoking and childhood obesity. Babies born to women who smoked during the pregnancy had lower birth weights than the children of nonsmoking mothers, according to a January 2013 report published in "Pediatric Obesity." However, the children of the women who smoked during pregnancy gained more weight during the first year of life and continued to gain more weight during early childhood, compared to the babies born to nonsmokers. By the time the children were 6 to 7 years old, those born to smokers were significantly more likely to be overweight or obese than the children born to nonsmokers.
Researchers continue to explore the link between smoking during pregnancy and childhood obesity, according to a February 2013 report published in "Environmental Health Perspectives." Some animal studies of exposure to nicotine before birth and before weaning have indicated the chemical may impair the normal metabolic response to insulin and glucose, or blood sugar. Effects on the pancreas and on levels of leptin -- a hormone that regulates feeding behaviors -- have also been considered. Further research is needed for determine the specific metabolic effects of smoking during pregnancy and how these effects affect a child's risk for obesity.
More than 2/3 of obese children will become obese adults. Sixty percent of obese children have at least 1 risk factor for cardiovascular disease and 25 percent have 2 or more risk factors. These risk factors, including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, were once found only in adults. Poor health negatively affects a child's quality of life and life expectancy.
Preventing women smoking during pregnancy should start before conception, if possible. Women of child-bearing age should be educated on the effects of tobacco smoking on a fetus and encouraged to quit smoking. Pregnant women tend to be receptive to suggestions about improving their health habits to benefit their babies, so the long-term effects of smoking on the child should be stressed. One study showed that 45 percent of women who were smoking at the time of conception were able to stop during pregnancy, according to CDC.
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health: Can We Modify the Intrauterine Environment to Halt the Intergenerational Cycle of Obesity?
- The Lancet: Childhood Obesity –- 2010: Progress and Challenges
- PLoS One: Estimation of Newborn Risk for Child or Adolescent Obesity: Lessons From Longitudinal Birth Cohorts
- National Guideline Clearinghouse: Management of Overweight and Obesity in Children and Adolescents
- Environmental Health Perspectives: Evaluation of the Association Between Maternal Smoking, Childhood Obesity, and Metabolic Disorders: A National Toxicology Program Workshop Review
- Pediatric Obesity: Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy and Childhood Overweight and Fat Distribution: The KOALA Birth Cohort Study
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: PRAMS and Smoking
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