1037 Grandma's smoking gun
Children whose grandmothers smoked have a legacy--more health problems, more than if just their mothers smoked. And if your prenatal nourishment wasn't good enough for you to pad your little fetal thighs and hips, then you're more likely to put on weight in your middle and have all the health problems associated with the "apple shape."Another thing to thank my sainted mother, and not-quite-so-saintly grandmother for: neither were smokers, and both paid very close attention to the food they prepared for their families. Because of the Depression and WWII, both had gardens and limited meat. Fruits and vegetables were home canned. Sugar was rationed so desserts were limited to special occasions and Sundays. They both died in January of their 88th year.
According to Sharon Begley's column in today's Wall Street Journal (May 13, 2005) "if you are undernourished as a first trimester fetus, you won't pad your hips and thighs with enough fat tissue." Then as an adult, all the extra calories go to your waist (apple shaped as opposed to pear shaped). This makes you more susceptible to heart diseases, diabetes, and breast cancer. Every extra calorie that goes into my mouth goes immediately to my hips and thighs. Thanks, Mom.
Unfortunately, she doesn't cite sources, although she collects some interesting items. So I did a look through Google and did find a fairly recent book that may be available in your public library, called Prenatal Prescription. The smoking-fetus connection can be found in the article "Maternal and Grandmaternal Smoking Patterns Are Associated With Early Childhood Asthma" by Yu-Fen Li, PhD, MPH; Bryan Langholz, PhD; Muhammad T. Salam, MBBS, MS and Frank D. Gilliland, MD, PhD in Chest. 2005;127:1232-1241.
And obviously, if grandma decided to have an abortion, you aren't reading this.
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2 comments:
I know I really should be grateful to my mom and grandma. We all had/have flat chests,tiny waists, tight tummies, and big hips and thighs. My Grandma died in 2001 at age 84. We've a led really healthy lives...there must be something to it. Too bad society doesn't appreciate large legs!!!! (That mere fact led me to years of an eating disorder that I am finally recovering from.) At least I'm pretty sure my girls were well-padded in the first trimester!
You know, I'm starting to think that genetics is everything, and what you eat or smoke or whatever has very little to do with anything. My grandmothers both made it to 94 without taking especially good care of themselves, and were bright and sane and reasonably healthy right up to the end. They were both a bit overweight. My mother is VERY overweight, and has been since she was in her early 30s. She is now in her late 70s, still going strong.
My skinny father died at 57, but that was alcohol related. His father died of cancer at 63, non-smoker, no apparent reason for it. His sister lived to past 103, I'm not sure how far past, and she was a smoker. My other (plump) grandfather got to 86 but was bedridden for the last couple of years, from a stroke. 84 good years is pretty damned good if you ask me. He mistrusted doctors so much that when he had the stroke it was the first doctor visit he'd had since he was 17.
How on earth do you make 'sensible' choices when you have a family history like that? I'm skinny, but I sometimes wonder if it's a good thing.
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