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PASSIVE SMOKING AND HEIGHT GROWTH OF PREADOLESCENT CHILDREN
Citation:
Berkey, C., J. Ware, F. Speizer, AND B. Ferris. PASSIVE SMOKING AND HEIGHT GROWTH OF PREADOLESCENT CHILDREN. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-84/380.
Description:
The attained height and height growth of 9273 children participating in a longitudinal study of the health effects of air pollutants were analyzed to assess the association between passive exposure to cigarette smoke and physical growth between 6 and 11 years of age. Children were measured annually for 2 to 6 years. Each height measurement was adjusted for sex and age by the NCHS anthropometric standards. Each child's adjusted heights were then re-expressed as level of attained height and growth rate. Attained height exhibited a dose response relationship with amount of current maternal cigarette smoking (p<0.001). Children whose mothers smoked ten or more cigarettes daily were approximately 0.65 cm shorter than children of non-smokers, while children whose mothers smoked between 1 and 9 cigarettes per day were 0.45 cm shorter. However, passive smoking was not correlated with the child's grown rate.