LONDON — Men who start smoking before the age of 11 risk having sons who are overweight, British researchers have found, adding to evidence that lifestyle factors even in childhood can affect the health of future offspring.
The findings, published in the European Journal of Human Genetics, could indicate that exposure to tobacco smoke before the start of puberty in men may lead to metabolic changes in the next generation.
The researchers found that at ages 13, 15 and 17, the sons of men who started smoking before 11 had the highest body-mass index scores compared with the sons of men who started smoking later or who had never smoked.