Effect of Grandmaternal Smoking on Body Size and Proportions at Birth

Isabell Katharina Rumrich, Otto Hänninen, Matti Viluksela and Kirsi Vähäkangas
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Isabell Katharina Rumrich: Department of Health Security, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), P.O. Box 95, 70701 Kuopio, Finland
Otto Hänninen: Department of Health Security, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), P.O. Box 95, 70701 Kuopio, Finland
Matti Viluksela: Department of Health Security, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), P.O. Box 95, 70701 Kuopio, Finland
Kirsi Vähäkangas: School of Pharmacy/Toxicology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Eastern Finland (UEF), P.O. Box 1627, 70211 Kuopio, Finland

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 9, 1-13

Abstract: Many long-term adverse effects of smoking during pregnancy are known. Increasingly, adverse effects in the grandchild after grandmaternal smoking during pregnancy are reported. We explored this in a birth cohort of 24,000 grandmother–mother–child triads identified from the Finnish Medical Birth Register in 1991–2016. Multiple logistic regression was used to analyze the association between any smoking during pregnancy by both grandmother and mother, or only grandmother or mother on adverse birth outcomes. No smoking by neither grandmother nor mother was used as the reference. As endpoints, preterm birth, low birth weight, small for gestational age (birth weight, birth length, head circumference), and body proportionality (low ponderal index, high brain-to-body ratio, high head-to-length ratio) were included. Smoking by both grandmother and mother was consistently associated with higher risks than smoking only by the mother. Birth length and weight were especially sensitive to (grand)maternal smoking. In conclusion, the combined effect of grandmaternal and maternal smoking is associated with higher risks than only maternal smoking.

Keywords: pregnancy; tobacco; smoking; maternal; grandmaternal; birth outcome; birth weight; register research; intergenerational (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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