Individuals Exposed to Nicotine While in the Womb Are More Likely to Become Smokers

Researchers writing in the Journal of Neuroscience argue that women who smoke during pregnancy risk giving birth to children who are more likely to pick up this habit once they reach adulthood.

What's more, these children risk developing into adults who also tend to consume a tad too much alcohol and fatty foods.

Experiments carried out on rats indicate that, at least in the case of this species of rodents, prenatal exposure to nicotine fosters the production of one too many neurons that are responsible for stimulating appetite,Nature tells us.

Thus, rats born to mothers that had been injected with a small amount of nicotine on a daily basis showed a tendency to eat more fat-rich foods, self-administer nicotine and also drink alcohol if given the opportunity to do so.

The researchers suspect that their findings also hold true in the case of humans, and urge pregnant women not to light up while expecting.

They say that, according to their investigation, just one daily cigarette is more than enough to up the chances that the newborn child will develop addictive behaviors during his adolescence and adulthood.