Most people know smoking while pregnant can lead to a variety of
health problems. But researchers at the Yale University School
of Medicine have uncovered a possible consequence that most
people wouldn't suspect -- lower reading comprehension.
According to a study published in the current issue of "The
Journal of Pediatrics," children born to mothers who smoked more
than a pack a day during pregnancy struggled on tests designed
to measure how accurately they read aloud and how well they
comprehend what they read. Researchers from Yale, as well as
Brock University in Canada, analyzed data from more than 5,000
children involved in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and
Children, conducted at the University of Bristol in the United
Kingdom. Lead author Dr. Jeffrey Gruen, professor of pediatric,
genetics and investigative medicine at Yale, and his colleagues
compared children's reading performance with their exposure to a
variety of risk factors, including maternal smoking. "We were
very surprised to see that