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Children of mothers who smoked during pregnancy are more likely to become smokers themselves than children of mothers who did not smoke, but the origins of smoking patterns (e.g., age at onset and frequency) are not as clear. Australian investigators analyzed prospective self-reported data for more than 3000 mother-offspring pairs. They compared the smoking patterns of young adults whose mothers smoked during pregnancy with those whose mothers smoked at times other than during pregnancy and with those whose mothers never smoked. Maternal self-reports covered the period from before pregnancy to 14 years after delivery. Offspring reported their smoking patterns at age 21. The authors also analyzed several potential confounding factors, includ…