Association even stronger when offspring also experienced passive smoke exposure during childhood
THURSDAY, Sept. 4, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Paternal passive smoke exposure before completing puberty may intergenerationally impair lung function in future generations, according to a study published online Sept. 2 in Thorax.
Jiacheng Liu, from University of Melbourne in Australia, and colleagues examined the association between paternal prepubertal passive smoke exposure and lung function from childhood to middle age in their offspring. The analysis included 890 father-offspring pairs participating in the Tasmanian Longitudinal Health Study.
The researchers found that paternal prepubertal passive smoke exposure was associated with below-average forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1; adjusted multinomial odds ratio [aMOR], 1.56) and early low-rapid decline FEV1/forced vital capacity trajectories (aMOR, 2.30) in offspring. In offspring exposed to childhood passive smoke, the association with the below-average FEV1 trajectory was amplified (aMOR, 2.36; P-interaction = 0.053). Smoking and respiratory illnesses in fathers and offspring partly mediated the associations (each contributing <15 percent).
“These findings suggest that smoking may adversely affect lung function not only in smokers but also in their children and grandchildren,” the authors write. “Fathers exposed to tobacco smoke during prepuberty may still reduce risk for future generations by avoiding smoking around their children.”
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