Smoking in pregnancy and subsequent child development.

A national sample of several thousand children has been followed longitudinally from birth. At the ages of 7 and 11 years physical and mental retardation due to smoking in pregnancy has been found, and this deficit increases with the number of cigarettes smoked after the fourth month of pregnancy. Children of mothers who smoked 10 or more cigarettes a day are on average 1.0 cm shorter and between three and five months retarded on reading, mathematics, and general ability compared with the offspring of non-smokers, after allowing for associated social and biological factors.