Takashi Ohida¹, Tomofumi Sone², Yoshitaka Kaneita, MD³, Kenshu Suzuki, MD¹, Akiyo Kaneko, MD¹, and Yuko Yagi, MA¹. (1) Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Nihon University, 30-1 Ohyaguchikami-machi, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, 1738610, Japan, 81-3-3972-8111, tohida@niph.go.jp, (2) Department of Public Health Policy, National Institute of Public Health, Japan, 2-3-6 Minami, Wako City, Saitama, 3510197, Japan, (3) public health, Nihon University, 30-1 Ooyaguchi Kamimachi, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, 173-8610, Japan

A survey targeting parents having infants six months of age, conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) of Japan, was analyzed to indicate associations between smoking behavior of pregnant women and their infants' birth weights and lengths. The MHLW conducted a survey using self-administered questionnaires targeting all 53,575 households throughout the nation that had infants born January 10-17, 2001, and July 10-17, 2001. The survey was conducted when these infants had reached six months of age. The target babies of this survey accounted for about 5% among the 1.18 million born in 2001. The collection rate of the questionnaire was 88%. The MHLW created a data table for each household, combining the data on birth dates of parents, birth weights and lengths of infants, residence information collected from registrations of birth submitted to municipalities in the nation, and the questionnaire data. As to the infants' birth weights by mother's smoking status and age group, infants of smoking mothers had significantly lower birth weights than those of non-smoking mothers of all age groups. The difference of birth weights was remarkable in under-20 and 40-49 age group. Among 30-39 and 40-49 age group, birth weight reduction was significantly associated with the number of cigarettes consumed per day. We also found a similar tendency in the relationship between maternal smoking and birth length of infants.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of the presentation, the participant will be able to
• Know the impact of motherfs smoking during the pregnancy on the birth weight of her baby in Japan,
• Know the relationship between the number of cigarettes smoked during the pregnancy and the extent of birth weight reduction,
• Know the relationship between motherfs smoking and birth length of her baby.

Keywords: Maternal and Child Health, Smoking

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.