Regular smoking of male ancestors in adolescence and fat and lean mass in young adult grandchildren and great-grandchildren

Abstract

Our previous studies using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) have shown that if men started smoking before the onset of puberty their sons, their granddaughters and great-granddaughters were more likely to have excess fat mass during childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. Here we assess associations between ancestral smoking during adolescence (ages 11-16years) with fat and lean mass of subsequent generations at ages 17 and 24. We found associations between adolescent smoking of the paternal grandfather and the adjusted fat mass of their grandchildren, but no associations with lean mass. Grandchildren at age 17 had an average excess fat mass of + 1.65 [95% CI + 0.04, + 3.26] Kg, and at age 24 an average excess of + 1.55 [95% CI -0.27, + 3.38] Kg. Adolescent smoking by the maternal grandfather showed similar, but weaker, associations: at 17 average excess fat mass of + 1.02 Kg [95% CI -0.20, + 2.25] Kg, and at 24 average excess of + 1.28 [95% CI -0.11, + 2.66] Kg. There were no significant differences between the sexes of the children. For the great-grandparents there were few convincing results. Confirmation of these associations is required, either in a further data set or by demonstrating the presence of supportive biomarkers.

A history of asthma may be associated with grandparents’ exposures to stress and cigarette smoking

“…i) To extend the previous analyses (Miller et al, 2014) from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) to look at the grandparental associations with smoking in pregnancy using different ages for which the prevalence of asthma was recorded, and different generations (i.e., the adult grandchildren (F2) and the grandchildren at ages 7 and 22 (F3)), in regard to exposures to their grandparents in generations F0 and F1 respectively, and thus to determine whether associations changed with age (F3) or over time (results for F2 compared with results for F3). ii) In line with our other recent inter/trans-generational studies (Golding et al, 2023), we will also assess whether traumatic events occurring in childhood or smoking of the grandparent during adolescence (Gregory et al, 2022) are associated with asthma in the grandchild.…”

“…Although famine appeared to be the exposure of interest, the data could equally be interpreted as an exposure to a traumatic event. To assess whether similar associations between an ancestral exposure and a variety of outcomes are apparent nowadays, several longitudinal studies have used both ancestral smoking and stressful events experienced in childhood by grandparents and examined the associations with outcomes of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren (e.g., Vågerö et al, 2018;Manners et al, 2019;Golding et al, 2021;Gregory et al, 2022;Golding et al, 2023).…”

“…No one, to our knowledge, has examined whether a grandchild's respiratory outcomes are associated with grandparental traumas during their childhoods or with grandparents' cigarette smoking during their adolescence (which has been shown to be associated with increased fat mass in the grandchildren, especially when the paternal rather than the maternal grandfather is involved) (Gregory et al, 2022).…”