Epidemiological studies show that maternal smoking during pregnancy might be a risk factor for childhood obesity and hypertension. Experimental data suggest that exposure to nicotine, the main addictive compound in tobacco smoke, during gestational and lactational periods, is responsible for increased adiposity in offspring.

As previous studies show that there is a high rate of relapse among women, de Oliviera et al. investigated the effects of perinatal nicotine exposure on intermediary metabolism in a rat model. They found that nicotine exposure during lactation programmes rats for adipocyte hypertrophy in adult life as well as for leptin and insulin resistance. De Oliviera et al. (2010), Journal of Endocrinology 206, 55-63.

Read the full article online at DOI: 10.1677/JOE-10-0104.