EFFECTS OF MATERNAL CIGARETTE-SMOKING DURING PREGNANCY ON LONG-TERM PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE PARAMETERS OF CHILD-DEVELOPMENT

The negative impact of maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy on the growth and development of the foetus has been well documented. How ever, the long-term effects of the subsequent cognitive and physical d evelopment of the child are less clearly understood. This article pres ents a critical review of the literature on this topic. The review sho ws that the effects of prenatal exposure to smoking on children's phys ical development are mediated by a dose-response relationship. Althoug h the observed effects are long term, they are small and may have no m ajor functional importance. The evidence on the long-term consequences of intellectual function is still unclear. One reason is that very fe w studies have looked at the longterm consequences of maternal smoking on both physical and cognitive development. More effort is needed to investigate this important issue. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.