Women and girls whose grandfathers or great-grandfathers began smoking at an early age tend to have more body fat, research that taps into the extraordinary 30-year-old Children of the 90s study has found.

In an earlier piece of work it was discovered that if a father started smoking regularly before reaching puberty, then his sons, but not daughters, had more body fat than expected.

Now researchers believe they have pinpointed higher body fat in females with grandfathers or great-grandfathers who began smoking before the age 13. No effects were observed in male descendants.