TY - JOUR
T1 - Paternal smoking and childhood overweight
T2 - Evidence from the Hong Kong "children of 1997"
AU - Kwok, Man Ki
AU - Schooling, C. Mary
AU - Lam, Tai Hing
AU - Leung, Gabriel M.
PY - 2010/7
Y1 - 2010/7
N2 - OBJECTIVE: This study examined, in a non-Western sociohistorical context, whether prenatal or postnatal secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure for children of nonsmoking mothers was associated with higher childhood BMI, and it clarified whether the observed associations were biologically mediated or socioeconomically confounded. METHODS: A total of 6710 and 6519 children of nonsmoking mothers (N = 7924) with BMI data at ∼7 and ∼11 years, respectively, from a population-representative (N = 8327), Hong Kong Chinese birth cohort ("Children of 1997"), born in April or May 1997, were included in the analysis. RESULTS: Compared with no SHS exposure, daily paternal smoking increased mean BMI z scores, but not height, at 7 years (difference: 0.10 [95% confidence interval: 0.02-0.19]) and at 11 years (difference: 0.16 [95% confidence interval: 0.07-0.26]), with adjustment for gender, birth order, socioeconomic position, mother's place of birth, breastfeeding, serious morbidity, and pubertal status. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings, although preliminary, suggest that the association of paternal smoking with child overweight might be biologically mediated. Given the known harms of smoking, reducing SHS exposure from conception as a precautionary action for childhood overweight might be warranted.
AB - OBJECTIVE: This study examined, in a non-Western sociohistorical context, whether prenatal or postnatal secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure for children of nonsmoking mothers was associated with higher childhood BMI, and it clarified whether the observed associations were biologically mediated or socioeconomically confounded. METHODS: A total of 6710 and 6519 children of nonsmoking mothers (N = 7924) with BMI data at ∼7 and ∼11 years, respectively, from a population-representative (N = 8327), Hong Kong Chinese birth cohort ("Children of 1997"), born in April or May 1997, were included in the analysis. RESULTS: Compared with no SHS exposure, daily paternal smoking increased mean BMI z scores, but not height, at 7 years (difference: 0.10 [95% confidence interval: 0.02-0.19]) and at 11 years (difference: 0.16 [95% confidence interval: 0.07-0.26]), with adjustment for gender, birth order, socioeconomic position, mother's place of birth, breastfeeding, serious morbidity, and pubertal status. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings, although preliminary, suggest that the association of paternal smoking with child overweight might be biologically mediated. Given the known harms of smoking, reducing SHS exposure from conception as a precautionary action for childhood overweight might be warranted.
KW - Body mass index
KW - Children
KW - Cohort study
KW - Overweight
KW - Paternal smoking
KW - Secondhand smoke
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77954360463&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1542/peds.2009-2642
DO - 10.1542/peds.2009-2642
M3 - Article
C2 - 20587672
AN - SCOPUS:77954360463
SN - 0031-4005
VL - 126
SP - e46-e56
JO - Pediatrics
JF - Pediatrics
IS - 1
ER -