Mar 06, 2015 12:15 AM EST By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

Women who smoke when pregnant are putting their daughters at a greater risk of developing ovarian and breast cancer later in life, according to a recent study.

The Australian National University (ANU) study, published in Human Reproduction, found mothers who reported smoking most days while pregnant had daughters who had an earlier age of first menstruation, or menarche.

Lead researcher Dr. Alison Behie said reaching menarche at an earlier age increases the number of ovulation cycles a woman will have in her life, and puts her at greater risk of developing reproductive cancers possibly due to increased exposure to hormones such as estrogen.

"We're discovering more and more that major aspects of our biology, and even our behavior, are set before we are born," Behie, a biological anthropologist from the ANU School of Archaeology and Anthropology, said in a statement. "We know the mother's exposure to stress, such as smoking in this case, can influence the long-term health of the child. Understanding factors that lead to early menarche, especially preventable ones, are important given these long term health implications and increased cancer risk for women."

Smoking during pregnancy is usually linked to a number of health risks for children including reduced birth weight, reduced lung capacity, asthma and obesity, but is not commonly linked with the development of reproductive cancers later in life.

For the study, researchers collected and analyzed data on 1,500 girls from the Australian Government study (Department of Social Services, the Australian Institute of Family Studies, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics) Growing Up in Australia, the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children.

The research helps mothers further understand the risks of smoking on their unborn child.

Researchers said the study is important in understanding the full range of factors that are causing girls to begin menstruating early.

The findings are detailed in the journal Human Reproduction.

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