To-be Fathers Who Smoke Increase Asthma Risk in Children

Father put the health of their progeny at risk if they do not quit smoking before conception. A new research shows that these fathers increase the risk of asthma in children.

The study is the first to determine the association between the smoking habit of men and its impact on their children. For the study, the researchers examined data of more than 13,000 men and women. The data had information about the frequency of smoking in to-be fathers before conception in terms of years, whether or not the parents stopped smoking before conception and incidence rate of asthma in their children.

The findings revealed that men who smoked before conception had children who were more likely to develop non-allergic asthma. The risk of developing asthma in children was at the highest if their father began smoking before the age of 15. Moreover, there was increased risk for each additional year that the men continued to smoke.

Interestingly, no association between smoking habits of mothers and asthma risk in children was found. "This study is important as it is the first study looking at how a father's smoking habit pre-conception can affect the respiratory health of his children. Given these results, we can presume that exposure to any type of air pollution, from occupational exposures to chemical exposures, could also have an effect," Dr Cecile Svanes, from the University of Bergen, Norway, said in a press release. "It is important for policymakers to focus on interventions targeting young men and warning them of the dangers of smoking and other exposures to their unborn children in the future."

The research was recently presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Munich, Germany.