Women who smoke cigarettes in the early stages of pregnancy could put their daughters at risk for developing gestational diabetes and obesity in adulthood, according to recent study data published in Diabetologia.

Previous data have suggested that smokingis a preventable environmental exposure that may lead to various adverse outcomes among children that continue through adulthood. In this study, researchers from Sweden and the NIH collected data from the Medical Birth Register of Sweden for women born in 1982 or later who also gave birth to at least one child (n=80,189).

The women were categorized into three groups: non-smokers, moderate smokers (1-9 cigarettes per day) and heavy smokers (>9 cigarettes per day). Available data on daughters demonstrated that 291 developed gestational diabetes, 280 developed non-gestational diabetes and 7,300 developed obesity.

Upon further analysis, researchers determined that the adjusted risk forgestational diabetes was increased among women who were moderately (OR=1.62; 95% CI, 1.24-2.13) and heavily (OR=1.52; 95% CI, 1.12-2.06) exposed to cigarette smoke. Regarding obesity, these risks also increased among women who were moderately (OR=1.36; 95% CI, 1.28-1.44) and heavily (OR=1.58; 95% CI, 1.48-1.68) exposed, according to data.

Conversely, data indicated a reduced risk for non-gestational diabetes among the offspring of heavy smokers (OR=0.66; 95% CI, 0.45-0.96), the researchers wrote.

“Although short-term detrimental effects of smoking on the individual and her offspring are well known, such associations might extend into adulthood, making the incentive stronger for undertaking preventable measures, particularly as numbers in some countries point to an increase in daily smoking among young women,” the researchers concluded.

Source: Endocrine Today