Smoking during pregnancy ‘can affect growth of grandchildren’

Continuing to smoke during pregnancy can have an effect on the physical development of a woman's children's children, according to research.

Led by the University of Bristol, the study observed that among non-smoking mothers, if a paternal grandmother smoked during pregnancy, their granddaughters tended to be taller, while both granddaughters and grandsons had greater bone mass and lean muscle mass.

By contrast, when maternal grandmothers smoked during pregnancy, grandsons were heavier than expected during adolescence, with increased lean mass, grip strength and cardiovascular fitness.

Finally, in cases where maternal grandmothers and mothers both smoked, girls tended to have reduced height and weight compared with girls whose mothers, but not grandmothers, had smoked.

Professor Marcus Pembrey, the study's senior author, said: "These likely transgenerational effects from the grandmothers' smoking in pregnancy need to be taken into account in future studies of the effects of maternal smoking on child growth and development."

This adds to the growing body of evidence showing that smoking during pregnancy can affect the health of future offspring in a number of ways, most of which are negative.