Maternal prenatal paracetamol ingestion and scholastic attainments of the offspring.

Fetal exposure to paracetamol (acetaminophen) has been shown to be associated with asthma and other atopic disorders, as well as behavioural problems including hyperactivity, in childhood. However, there is little information on scholastic abilities among children exposed to paracetamol in pregnancy. To determine whether there are any differences in scholastic abilities among the offspring of women who ingested paracetamol during pregnancy compared with non-exposed children.

A history of asthma may be associated with grandparents' exposures to stress and cigarette smoking.

Within human epidemiological studies, associations have been demonstrated between grandparental exposures during childhood and grandchildren's outcomes. A few studies have assessed whether asthma has ancestral associations with exposure to cigarette smoking, but results have been mixed so far. In this study we used four generations: (F0 great-grandparents, F1 grandparents, F2 parents, F3 study children) of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) to determine whether there is evidence of associations between asthma in generations F2 or F3 and exposures to severe trauma in childhood and/or active cigarette smoking during the adolescence of grandmothers and grandfathers in generations F0 and F1 respectively, or of a history of a F0 or F1 grandmother smoking during pregnancy.