Dreading the pitter-patter of little hyperactive feet around the house? You should if you have been puffing away throughout pregnancy. If you don’t stub that cigarette out, rest assured your child will drive you up the wall with problem behaviour, especially if you happen to have a boy. A study by British and American researchers shows mothers who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to give birth to babies who go on to develop behavioural problems such as hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder. Pregnancy smoking, hyperactive, problem childrenAnd you may not have much time to teach them to be obedient and well-behaved. Even children as young as.

Three years old start exhibiting signs of thesebehavioural problems, shows the study. Researchers from Hull York Medical School in UK and University of Illinois in US reviewed data on over 14,000 mothers and children participants of Millennium Cohort Study. The children were born between 2000 and 2001.

Depending on their daily quota of cigarettes during pregnancy, the smoking moms were classified as light or heavy smokers. About 10 per cent of the mothers were heavy smokers, 12.5 per cent light smokers and 12.4 per cent quit smokingduring pregnancy. The mothers were made to fill out questionnaires on their children’s behaviour including questions on how often the child got angry, picked fights with other kids, got argumentative and fidgeted or was restless.

An analysis of the data showed that women who smoked during pregnancy were more likely to have problem children, especially sons. Male offspring of heavy smokers had an 80 per cent higher risk of hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder than those of non-smokers. In light smokers, the risk was 44 per cent higher.
Daughters of smokers, too, exhibited more behavioural problems than those of non-smokers but not to the extent sons did.

In a report published in Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, researchers said nicotine could be altering the still developing foetal brain, especially of boys. Kate Pickett, lead author of the study, said, “Smoking in pregnancy may have direct effects on the foetal development of brain structure and functioning which has been shown in studies of rats. Or it may be a marker for the transmission of processes between the generations that are associated with both smoking in pregnancy and behaviour problems in children.” Another reason to kick butt. Or your own if it’s already too late.