PASSIVE SMOKING AND HEIGHT GROWTH OF PREADOLESCENT CHILDREN

The attained height and height growth rate 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 yr of age. Children were measured annually for 2-6 yr. Each height measurement was adjusted for sex and age by the NCHS [National Center for Health Statistics] anthropometric standards. Each child''s adjusted heights were then reexpressed 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 10 or more cigarettes daily were .apprx. 0.65 cm shorter than children of nonsmokers, 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 growth rate. Exposure to paternal smoking was not significantly associated with height, either in terms of attained level or growth rate. Passive smoking in the 6- to 11-yr-old child evidently does not continue to affect the growth rate of height and the observed association between attained height and maternal smoking behavior is due to exposures in utero and/or during infancy and the preschool years.