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Maternal caffeine intake associated with excess infant growth, overweight
Women who consume at least 200 mg of caffeine per day during pregnancy are more likely to have offspring with excess growth in infancy and overweight in childhood, and the risk rises with increasing caffeine intake, according to an analysis of a Norwegian pregnancy cohort.
“In utero exposure to caffeine has been related to an increased risk for overweight and higher body fat in childhood in two previous epidemiological studies,” Eleni Papadopoulou, of the division of infection control and environmental health at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo, Norway, and colleagues wrote. “However, the link between in utero caffeine exposure and excess growth in infancy is yet to be studied, even though excess infant growth is an established risk factor in the etiology of obesity and cardiometabolic disease.”
Papadopoulou and colleagues analyzed data from 50,943 mother-child pairs participating in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), a prospective, population-based pregnancy cohort study conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Participants self-reported intake of 255 dietary items at 22 weeks’ gestation via a food frequency questionnaire, with average daily caffeine intake calculated as the aggregated intake (in mg per day) from all available sources, including tea, coffee, caffeinated soft drinks, energy drinks and chocolate. Researchers assessed infant weight gain by calculating the difference in sex-adjusted WHO weight-for-age z scores between birth and age 1 year, using reported weights, and determined childhood overweight, including obesity, at two time points at ages 3 and 5 years and once at age 8 years. Researchers used logistic regression analysis to examine the associations between maternal caffeine intake and excess growth in infancy and childhood overweight.
Within the cohort, 7.13% of women reported caffeine intake of at least 200 mg per day, and 3.21% reported caffeine intake of at least 300 mg per day. Paternal median caffeine intake was 193 mg per day, with caffeine from coffee cited as the main contributor, according to researchers.
Compared with mothers with low caffeine intake during pregnancy (0 to 49 mg per day), researchers found that children born to mothers with high average caffeine intake (50-199 mg per day) were 1.15 times more likely to experience excess growth in infancy (95% CI, 1.09-1.22). This risk increased for children born to mothers reporting high caffeine intake (OR = 1.3; 95% CI, 1.16-1.45) and very high caffeine intake (OR = 1.66; 95% CI, 1.42-1.93). Excluding pairs with mothers who reported smoking during pregnancy and infants born small for gestational age did not change the results, according to researchers.
Researchers observed a similar risk trajectory for overweight in childhood. Compared with mothers reporting low caffeine intake during pregnancy, researchers found that children born to mothers reporting high caffeine average caffeine intake were more likely to have children overweight at age 3 years (OR = 1.05; 95% CI, 0.99-1.12), with that risk increasing for children born to mothers reporting high caffeine intake (OR = 1.17; 95% CI, 1.05-1.3) and very high caffeine intake (OR = 1.44; 95% CI, 1.24-1.67), with results again persisting after excluding pairs with mothers who smoked and infants born small for gestational age.
“Putting together the previous findings of the MoBa study, we have shown that children prenatally exposed to high caffeine levels are smaller at birth, grow faster in infancy and retain a higher weight throughout childhood without significant height differences, thus becoming overweight,” the researchers wrote. “These findings concur with the fetal programming of obesity hypothesis.”
The researchers also noted that the effect of prenatal caffeine exposure on postnatal growth and overweight was not dependent on birth weight.
“Although most pregnant women reduce their caffeine intake during pregnancy and few have caffeine intakes higher than 200 mg per day (10%), our results show associations between caffeine intakes below 200 mg per day and excess growth,” the researchers wrote. “The results add supporting evidence for the current advice to reduce caffeine intake during pregnancy and indicate that complete avoidance might actually be advisable.” – by Regina Schaffer
Disclosures: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.