Fetal growth retardation in cigarette-smoking mothers is not due to decreased maternal food intake.

To determine whether the fetal growth-retarding effect of maternal cigarette smoking could be due to a lower dietary intake in smokers than in nonsmokers, the energy and nutrient intake of 302 smoking and 234 nonsmoking women were assessed toward the end of the last trimester of pregnancy. The women were from two socioeconomic groups which differed greatly in age, height, education, family income, racial origin, and pregnancy weight gain. Within each group, smokers had significantly smaller infants, but pregnancy weight gain was not different. Daily dietary intake of the smokers was not less than that of the nonsmokers; in fact, for some nutrients it was significantly greater. Therefore, fetal growth retardation due to smoking is not caused by the mother's diminished intake of food.