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Smoking during pregnancy and components of stature in offspring
Author(s) -
Leary Sam,
Davey Smith George,
Ness Andy
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
american journal of human biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.559
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1520-6300
pISSN - 1042-0533
DOI - 10.1002/ajhb.20518
Subject(s) - offspring , trunk , pregnancy , confidence interval , medicine , confounding , hum , obstetrics , biology , ecology , art , genetics , performance art , art history
The objective of this study was to examine the association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and offspring height and its components. The analysis was based on 6,340 white singletons born in 1991–1992 and enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), who had maternal smoking data recorded for at least one trimester in pregnancy, and who had their height recorded at age 7.5. Smoking at any time in pregnancy was associated with a reduction in offspring height, trunk, and leg length, and the leg‐to‐trunk ratio, after adjustment for age and sex. After additional adjustment for maternal factors, social factors, and breastfeeding, associations with leg length and leg‐to‐trunk ratio remained, with reductions of 0.25 cm (95% confidence interval, 0.05–0.46 cm) in leg length and 0.30% (95% confidence interval, 0.03–0.57%) in leg‐to‐trunk ratio if the mother smoked. Findings were similar when the smoking data were analyzed separately for each trimester. Furthermore, in each trimester, the more a mother smoked, the greater the reduction in offspring height, leg length, and leg‐to‐trunk ratio. These dose‐response relationships remained after adjustment for all potential confounders for leg length and leg‐to‐trunk ratio. Smoking at any time in pregnancy reduces offspring height and its components, and in particular leg length and leg‐to‐trunk ratio at age 7.5. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 18:502–512, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.