Smoking Moms Leads to Smoking Kids
It’s no secret kids pick up the bad habits of their parents – including smoking.
But you would think mothers could avoid the latter by quitting smoking before their children are old enough to try to mimic the behavior.
It doesn’t work that way, report investigators from the University of Arizona who looked at data collected in the Tucson Children’s Respiratory Study. They found moms who smoked while pregnant and early in their child’s life were significantly more likely to have children who had taken up the habit by their mid teens-early 20s – regardless of whether they had quit smoking by the time the child reached school age or not.
These young adult smokers were also less likely to quit smoking than others their age who didn’t have mothers who smoked during pregnancy and early childhood.
“The data suggest that a biological effect is in play, and that eliminating maternal smoking during pregnancy and the preschool years of the child will reduce the risk of her children becoming regular smokers in adulthood,” study author Roni Grad, M.D., was quoted as saying.
But what if you’re a mom who already smoked during pregnancy and when your kids were small? Dr. Grad suggests a heightened vigilance as your children get older. “In children of mothers who did smoke during this critical period, it is important to prevent experimentation with tobacco during the adolescent years.”
SOURCE: Presented at the International Conference of the American Thoracic Society, May 19, 2009
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