Smoking and prenatal cholesterol

We know smoking during pregnancy is one of the worst things you can do, and now new research shows women who light up during their pregnancy can negatively affect their children’s cholesterol levels in the future.

The study, published in The European Heart Journal, finds that by the age of eight, children born to mothers who smoked in pregnancy had lower levels of HDL cholesterol.

HDL is known as “good” cholesterol because it helps protect against artery build-up that can lead to heart attacks.