Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy Increases Children's Risk for Mental Retardation

In the April 1996 issue of PEDIATRICS article "The relationship between idiopathic mental retardation and maternal smoking during pregnancy" researchers found that women who smoked were 50 percent more likely to have a child with mental retardation of unknown etiology (an IQ of 70 or less) than were nonsmoking women.

In the study, researchers from Emory University, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Battelle Centers for Public Health Research and Evaluation in Atlanta interviewed 221 mothers of children with mental retardation of unknown etiology and 400 mothers of children without mental retardation regarding cigarette use during their pregnancies.

The study found that 35 percent of mothers of children with mental retardation had smoked during pregnancy while 24 percent of mothers of children without mental retardation had smoked during pregnancy.

The researchers controlled for sex, maternal age, race, economic status, parity, maternal education, and alcohol use during pregnancy.

The researchers conclude that IF their findings do represent a causal relationship, then approximately 35 percent of the cases of otherwise, unexplained mental retardation occurring in children of women who smoke might be attributed to maternal smoking during pregnancy.

Previous studies of the relationship between maternal smoking and children's cognitive functioning have produced conflicting findings.

Research, Data, Reports
Health Consequences | Secondhand Smoke