Transgenerational Effects of Smoking Addiction: Thanks, Dad

Smoking's just not good for you. Of course, most of us know that now. They're advertisements on television, subways, billboards. You name it. It might not deter some of us from picking up a pack of American Spirits for a party every other week, but hopefully, we're not mimicking Danny Zuko.

Unfortunately, chances are, our parents might have been. And worse yet, a recent study shows that parents who picked up the habit as youngsters--particularly fathers--may have increased their child's obesity risk.

According to researchers from the University of Bristol, they discovered that men who started smoking regularly before the age of 11 had sons who held 11 to 22 pounds more body fat than their peers as teens.

"This discovery of trans-generational effects has big implications for research into the current rise in obesity and the evaluation of preventative measures," said Dr. Marcus Pembrey, professor, School of Social and Community Medicine, and author of the study, via Medical Daily. "It is no longer acceptable to just study lifestyle factors in one generation."

For the current study, researchers used data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children's questionnaire that focused on smoking and the ages that smokers began while simultaneously comparing the growth of their children between the ages of 7 and 17. Body mass index (BMI) was also studied, while examining total fat mass, waist circumference and the age at which the father began to smoke regularly.

Findings showed that a toal of 5,376 out of the 9,886 father examined, 166 reported smoking regularly before the age of 11. Unfortunately, when measured at the ages of 13, 15 and 17, the sons of these men also had the highest BMIS.

"Our results highlight the importance of the developmental timing of the paternal exposure as well as gender differences in offspring outcomes," the authors note, via the news organization. "Smoking by boys in mid-childhood may contribute to obesity in adolescent boys of the next generation."

Of course, previous studies have also shown that smoking can increase the risk of certain cancers, heart issues and stroke, along with a long list of other health problems. In other words, regardless of what your parents did or do, probably just best not to smoke. 

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the European Journal of Human Genetics.