Scientists: smoking in adolescence may affect great-grandchildren

Cigarette smoking before puberty has long-term health effects—and the teenage smoker himself, and his descendants, say experts at the University of Bristol in Great Britain. Researchers have found a link between cigarettes and overweight in children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Scientists were based on information from the work "Children of the 90s". It contains data on more than 14,000 people born in the early 90s in the county of Avon with its capital in Bristol. It existed from 1974 to 1996 and was later abolished.

The starting point for the study was observations Longevity Determined by Paternal Ancestors’ Nutrition during Their Slow Growth Period for the inhabitants of the village of Everkalix in Sweden in 1880-1915. In this work, scientists tracked the relationship between hungry and full years for grandparents and the health of their grandchildren. They also found that the most significant period for the transfer of any properties of the body by inheritance is pre-puberty: 8–10 years for girls and 9–12 years for boys.

Another study showed Exposures during the prepuberty period and future offspring’s health: evidence from human cohort studiesthat fathers who started smoking before the age of 11 were more likely to have sons than daughters. Body mass index (height-to-weight ratio) and waist circumference of the children were larger than those of their peers who were born to fathers who did not smoke during adolescence.

In the new work, it was possible to trace more distant relationships. The Bristol researchers found that if grandparents started smoking before puberty, their granddaughters were more likely to be overweight. The effect was present on both the paternal and maternal lines. The lead author of the report noted:

The scientists acknowledged that the data sets were not too large, so they intend to continue research. If the link between smoking and being overweight is confirmed, this would be one of the first demonstrations of a transgenerational impact across four generations.