Highlights
- A study has linked consumption of coffee by mothers to childhood obesity.
- Even one or two coffee cups may increase risk of obesity in kids.
- It's not clear how prenatal coffee consumption is linked to child obesity
Coffee is one of the most preferred and loved caffeinated beverages around the world and one which has almost a cult-following. There have been several scientific studies on its touted benefits and side-effects. Now a new study has warned mothers-to-be against drinking coffee, as it may lead to obesity in their babies. The study, which has been published in
BMJ Open Journal, warns expectant mothers that drinking even one or two cups of coffee may lead to increased risk of obesity in their babies.
The study was conducted by looking at some 50,943 expectant mothers and those women who consumed caffeine during their pregnancy were monitored along with their babies, until these kids were about eight years old. The study results stated that the number of kids of the age of five years who were overweight or obese were five per cent higher in the group of women who had consumed the highest amount of coffee during their pregnancy period, as compared to the group of women who had the lowest coffee consumption.
Verena Sengpiel, Associate Professor at the University of Gothenburg's Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden said, "There may be good cause to increase the restriction of the recommended maximum of three cups of coffee per day. Caffeine is not a medicine that needs to be consumed." However, the study was unable to prove how exactly caffeine consumption in mothers was linked to the cause of obesity in their babies.
The National Food Agency recommends restricting caffeine consumption to about three cups every day for pregnant women. However, this study says that even this stipulated amount is not completely safe as the increased risk of obesity was present in kids of women who had stuck to this limit. Although this study may be sketchy in terms of establishing a definitive link between prenatal caffeine consumption and obesity in kids, Sengpiel still advised mothers to forgo their habit of grabbing those mandatory daily cups of coffee, while they are pregnant.
(With IANS inputs)