Smoking during pregnancy ups hypertension risk in offspring

Children exposed to maternal smoking during pregnancy have higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) and are at a heightened risk of hypertension, a recent study has found.

Researchers conducted a secondary analysis of the randomized dietary trial EU-Childhood Obesity Project and looked at the data of 572 children who had available data regarding BP and maternal smoking during pregnancy.

In particular, 30.8 percent of mothers were smoking before pregnancy and 26.9 percent continued up until the confirmation of their pregnancy. Meanwhile, 18.9 percent smoked until their 12th week of pregnancy while 15.4 percent continued beyond. Any smoking during pregnancy was reported in 19.8 percent of mothers.

In children, the mean SBP and diastolic (D)BP at 11 years of age were 108 and 59 mm Hg, respectively. Among those with high BP (n=153), maternal smoking before pregnancy was significantly more prevalent (37.3 percent vs 28.5 percent; p=0.044), as was smoking until (26.1 percent vs 16.2 percent; p=0.007) and beyond (22.2 percent vs 12.9 percent; p=0.007) the 12th week of pregnancy.

Any smoking (27.5 percent vs 17.2 percent; p=0.007) and total cigarettes smoked (1,142 vs 838; p=0.02) during pregnancy were likewise greater in children with high BP.

Linear regression analysis confirmed that smoking beyond the 12th week of pregnancy was a strong and significant risk factor for higher SBP percentile at 11 years of age (B, 6.942, 95 percent confidence interval, 0.454–13.429; p=0.036).