Higher hair nicotine level in children compared to mother living with smoking father in Malaysia.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study are to determine parental and children's hair nicotine levels, their relationships as well as to investigate the association of smoking status of the fathers with mothers' and children's hair nicotine. METHODS: A cross-sectional study design was conducted among 124 families who were participants of the Universiti Sains Malaysia Pregnancy Cohort Study. Both parents with their 2 years old children joined this study. A total of 92 hair samples of fathers, 124 hair samples of mothers and 111 hair samples of children were collected and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. RESULTS: Of total, 52.4 % of the fathers reported smoking. None of the mothers were smokers. Hair nicotine levels of fathers were found to be significantly correlated with mothers (r = 0.233, p = 0.026) and children (r = 0.508, p < 0.001). Children living with smoking fathers had significantly higher median hair nicotine level compared to the children of non-smoking fathers (6.08 vs 0.22 ng/mg, p = 0.046). However, this association was not seen in the mothers. Quantile regression showed significant association between fathers' and children's hair nicotine. CONCLUSION: There is a positive relationship between fathers' hair nicotine with mother's and children's hair nicotine. Living with smoking fathers can contribute to higher hair nicotine levels in children but not in mothers.

Intergenerational Transmission of Obesity from Mothers to Their Offspring: Trends and Associated Factors Derived from the Malaysian National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS).

Along with the increasing overweight and obesity trends among adults and children globally, numerous studies have suggested a strong association between maternal overweight and obesity among their offspring. We sought to report the prevalence and associated factors of intergenerational overweight and obesity among mother-child pairs in Malaysia from 2006 to 2015. Data were analysed from three waves of the Malaysian National Health and Morbidity Survey, a population-based cross-sectional study conducted in 2006, 2011 and 2015. A mother and the youngest child from each household formed 'mother-child pairs' and were grouped according to their body mass index categories. A multivariable logistic regression model was performed to determine the factors associated with overweight mother/overweight child pairs (OWM/OWC), with normal weight mother/normal weight child pairs (NWM/NWC) as the reference group. The prevalence of OWM/OWC increased from 15.3% to 21.7%, while the prevalence of NWM/NWC decreased from 28.4% to 23.8% between 2006 and 2015. Older maternal age and having primary and secondary education levels were positively associated with OWM/OWC. Conversely, older child age, Chinese ethnicity, large household size and low-income households were inversely associated with OWM/OWC. In conclusion, intergenerational weight gain is a worrisome trend in Malaysia. These findings may help in guiding priority setting for obesity prevention strategies in Malaysia.

Early life secondhand smoke exposure assessed by hair nicotine biomarker may reduce children's neurodevelopment at 2years of age.

Exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) can affect fetal brain development as well as subsequent neurodevelopment. This study aimed to determine the association between prenatal and postnatal SHS exposure with children's neurodevelopment at 2years of age. Among 107 mother-child pairs from a Malaysia prospective cohort, prenatal and postnatal SHS exposure was determined based on maternal and child hair nicotine concentrations. Multiple linear regressions were used to determine the association between prenatal and postnatal levels of nicotine in maternal and children's' hair with children's neurodevelopment. After adjustment for confounders, prenatal nicotine concentration levels were negatively associated with communication (ß=-2.059; p=0.015) and fine motor skills (ß=-2.120; p=0.002) while postnatal nicotine concentration levels were inversely associated with fine motors (ß=-0.124; p=0.004) and problem solving skills (ß=-0.117; p=0.013). In conclusion, this study suggests that early life exposure to SHS may affect children's neurodevelopment.