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Joan Stephenson, PhD

JAMA. 2006;296:272.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

A large international study confirms that children exposed to cigarette smoke in utero and after birth have an increased risk of impaired lung function (Moshammer H et al. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2006;173:1255-1263).

The researchers analyzed respiratory flow and volume data of 22 712 children from 9 countries in Europe and North America, about 60% of whom had been exposed to cigarette smoke prenatally or in early life. Children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy were up to 40% more likely to have poor lung function (defined as the lowest 5% lung function based on defined cutoff points for the parameters measured) than children born to nonsmokers. Exposure in the first 2 years of life was associated with reduced lung function, independent of parental smoking status during pregnancy.

Exposure to cigarette smoke in utero or early in life has been linked to subtantial risk of reduced lung . . . [Full Text of this Article]