Smoking during pregnancy may increase the risk of asthma in female offspring at the age of fourteen. There was no evidence that environmental exposure increased the risk of asthma at that age for either male or female offspring.
Evidence from:
R Alati et al. Epidemiology (2006) Vol.17#2 p 138 – 144
“In Utero and Postnatal Maternal Smoking and Asthma in Adolescence”
The analyses show that maternal smoking during childhood does not affect asthma status at adolescence but that smoking heavily during pregnancy significantly increases the risk to females at age 14.
The research also investigated the effect of passive smoking, and found no evidence of risk.
Asthma in children is diagnosed at very high rates. The likelihood of maternal smoking during pregnancy is also high. Judgement as to causation theory would help tobacco risk managers to respond proportionately.
Further detail: