Researchers from the Monell Chemical Sense Center in Philadelphia report in the New England Journal of Medicine (11/19) that children may be more likely to smoke if they acquire a taste for tobacco smoke from breastfeeding.
The researchers started with the proposition that children whose mothers smoke have an increased risk of smoking during adolescence.
They postulated that one mechanism for this may involve early learning of flavors, a variety of which may be transmitted through breast milk. So they tested whether the flavor of human milk is altered by smoking.
Five lactating smokers expressed milk before and after smoking. The samples were presented to a "sensory panel" of seven adults who evaluated the odor of the milk samples. The researchers reported the panelists were more likely to identify samples collected from the women 30 minutes to 1 hour after smoking as smelling "stronger" or "more like cigarettes" than other samples.
They concluded "These findings raise the possibility that in addition to the effects of nicotine on the developing brain, early experiences with the flavor of tobacco in breast milk (and perhaps even in amniotic fluid) influence the likelihood that exposed children will find these flavors appealing later in life."
How?
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