Smoking heavily during pregnancy makes children more likely to commit crime

Women who smoke heavily during pregnancy are more likely to have children who grow up to become repeat criminal offenders.

US research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, looked at almost 4,000 adults aged between 33 and 40 who were part of the Rhode Island cohort of the Collaborative Perinatal Project.

Their mothers joined the study between 1959 and 1966 and information was collected on their smoking habits during pregnancy.

Those who smoked 20 cigarettes or more each day were classed as heavy smokers.

When the criminal records of their children were checked in 1999/2000, the mothers who had smoked heavily during pregnancy had children who were 30 per cent more likely to have been arrested.

The authors conclude that though maternal smoking during pregnancy cannot be a definitive conclusion for the criminal offending, plausible biological evidence concerning the impact of nicotine on the ‘developing brain’ supports previous research that these children will be at a’ higher risk of poor attention span, impulsivity, and hyperactivity’.