Grant: Project Gr- PA: Res. in human dev., child and/or youth health in Indigenous pops

In general, women's health status is better than men's. However, the opposite is true for females who smoke tobacco, as they usually have poorer long-term health outcomes than males who smoke. This is especially true for the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVD). We propose a novel hypothesis that may explain this paradoxical phenomenon: females who smoke have a higher long-term CVD risk than males who smoke, possibly due to the adverse effects of tobacco smoking during pregnancy, which we hypothesize is much more detrimental than tobacco smoking during non-pregnancy periods. Tobacco smoking is more prevalent among Indigenous and low-income racialized populations compared to general populations, leading to early onset of diseases and deaths. Understanding the underlying causes of these disparities is crucial to developing effective strategies that will improve the health of both newborns and women. Building on our team's previous work, we propose a 3-year, 3-phase mixed-method project: Phase I: quantitative; Phase II: qualitative; and Phase III: knowledge translation/implementation. At the Bridge, we differentiate between ceremonial tobacco and commercial tobacco; our research focuses on reducing commercial tobacco use and dependence.