This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Sugar intake during pregnancy may heighten allergy risk in offspring

Children born to mothers with high free sugar intake during pregnancy are more likely to develop allergy or allergic asthma regardless of their sugar intake in early childhood, according to research published in the European Respiratory Journal.

“There has been considerable interest in the role of maternal diet in pregnancy in the etiology of childhood asthma and atopy... While in children a high consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and fruit juice has been linked to asthma, and particularly atopic asthma, the relation between total maternal consumption of free sugar during pregnancy and respiratory and atopic outcomes in the offspring has not been studied,” Annabelle Bédard, PhD, from the Queen Mary University of London in England and colleagues wrote.

To address this lack of information, Bédard and colleagues evaluated whether high maternal intake of free sugar during pregnancy adversely affects respiratory and atopic outcomes in offspring. They identified and studied approximately 9,000 mother-child pairs from a large population-based birth cohort study, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Participants included women who were pregnant in the early 1990s and had at least one outcome of interest. These women completed a food frequency questionnaire on their diet and free sugar intake at 32 weeks gestation. In addition, they reported on whether their child was doctor-diagnosed with asthma, wheezing, hay fever, eczema, atopy, serum total IgE and lung function at age 7 to 9 years.

Bédard and colleagues controlled for potential confounders, including background maternal characteristics, social factors and other aspects of maternal diet, such as foods and nutrients known to increase the risk of childhood asthma and allergy.

Weak evidence demonstrated an association between free sugar intake during pregnancy and asthma overall; however, stronger evidence indicated robust positive associations with allergy and allergic asthma. Offspring of mothers in the highest quintile of sugar intake (82.4 g to 345.1 g per day) were 38% more likely to have an allergy, 73% more likely to have an allergy to two or more allergens and 101% more like to have allergic asthma compared with offspring of mothers in the lowest quintile of sugar intake (1.6 g to 34 g per day). There was no association between free sugar intake and eczema, hay fever or total IgE. These results were independent of the offspring’s sugar intake during early childhood.

“We cannot say on the basis of these observations that a high intake of sugar by mothers in pregnancy is definitely causing allergy and allergic asthma in their offspring,” Seif Shaheen, MSc, PhD, study researcher from Queen Mary University of London, said in a press release. “However, given the extremely high consumption of sugar in the West, we will certainly be investigating this hypothesis further with some urgency.”

“The first step is to see whether we can replicate these findings in a different cohort of mothers and children,” he added. “If we can, then we will design a trial to test whether we can prevent childhood allergy and allergic asthma by reducing the consumption of sugar by mothers during pregnancy. In the meantime, we would recommend that pregnant women follow current guidelines and avoid excessive sugar consumption.”

Maternal sugar consumption has previously been associated with a greater likelihood of having offspring who are large-for-gestational age and overweight or obese at age 7 years. – by Alaina Tedesco

Disclosure: The researchers report funding from the European Respiratory Society.