Teenage boys who smoke could be hurting their future children, researchers say

BOSTON - Risky behaviors in childhood could have an impact on the health of future generations.

For example, boys who smoke in their early teens could be doing damage to their future, unborn children.

A team of researchers in Norway studied 875 people between the ages of 7 and 50 and found that those whose fathers smoked before the age of 15 had genetic changes that have been associated with asthma, lung function, and obesity.

This suggests that smoking prevention and intervention programs may not only help protect the young people themselves but also their future generations.

Health
Cigarette

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

Twitter Facebook