Exposure to prenatal smoking and early‐life body composition: The healthy start study

Objectives To examine associations between exposure to prenatal smoking and early‐life changes in fat mass (FM), fat‐free mass (FFM), and anthropometrics. Methods About 670 mother–offspring pairs were analyzed in the longitudinal Healthy Start study. Maternal smoking data were collected during prenatal research visits. Offspring body composition and size were measured by air displacement plethysmography at delivery and postnatal follow‐up (5 months) visits. Results Comparing exposed and unexposed offspring, exposure to prenatal smoking was significantly associated with reduced neonatal FM (P = 0.007) and FFM (P = 0.02). In contrast, at 5 months, exposed offspring had comparable FM (P = 0.61) and FFM (P = 0.41). After subsequent adjustment for birth weight, offspring exposed to prenatal smoking had significantly greater FFM (154.7 g, 0.5, 309.0; P = 0.049) and sum of skinfolds (2.7 mm, 0.06, 5.3; P = 0.04). From delivery to follow‐up, exposed offspring had significantly greater increases in FFM (156.4 g, 2.8, 310.1; P = 0.046) and sum of skinfolds (2.7 mm, 0.06, 5.3; P = 0.04), even after adjustment for respective delivery measures. Conclusions Exposure to prenatal smoking was significantly associated with rapid postnatal growth, which may increase the offspring's risk of metabolic diseases.