New research suggests that women whose own moms smoked while pregnant are two to three times more likely to develop as adults.
This suggestion is based on a survey of 1,800 women between 1959 and 1967 who received obstetric care in San Francisco as part of an early. The study was limited to women because it was initially launched to explore breast cancer risk. The findings found that fetal exposure to cigarettes not only increased the risk of obesity and low birth weight, but also diabetes.
“Our findings are consistent with the idea that gestational environmental chemical exposures can contribute to the development of health and disease,” study author assistant professor of environmental toxicology at the University of California, Davis, Michelle La Merrill, said in a release. “We found that smoking of parents is by itself a risk factor for diabetes, independent of obesity or birth weight,” she added. According to La Merrill, the study suggests that, “if a parent smokes, you’re not protected from diabetes just because you’re lean.”
read more about this finding in Philly.com