Effects of Smoking on the Health of Children from Embryonic Period to Adulthood: A Review Article

Cigarettes contain many toxic and harmful compounds. There are approximately 600 substances in cigarette that produce more than 7,000 chemicals when burned. In general, these compounds are hazardous either for smokers or both smokers and passive smokers. Today, due to the increasing number of female smokers, especially mothers who smoke during pregnancy, fetuses and children are faced with serious and irreparable consequences. Nicotine (the addictive substance in cigarettes), carbon monoxide, and numerous other poisons inhaled from cigarettes are transported through the bloodstream, which can be harmful to health of the fetus and the development of its organs, such as the fetal brain. Smoking has consequences not only during pregnancy but also during breastfeeding. In addition to the aforementioned, smoking is considered as one of the most concerning teratogens which can cause structural or functional abnormality, growth restriction, birth defects, and so on. These consequences can have dramatic and significant effects on infancy, childhood, and adulthood. According to the contents, in this review we try to discuss influences of smoking on the development of the fetus, growth of children, and eventually its effects on the development of congenital disorders.