In a study from the University of Manitoba, scientists found daily drinking of artificially sweetened beverages by women during pregnancy may be linked to increased infant body mass index (BMI) and may be linked to an increased risk of being overweight in early childhood.
Obesity may be rooted in early life with more than 20% of preschool children classified as overweight or obese.
Added sugar is associated with obesity and as a result, sugar replacements or nonnutritive sweeteners (NNSs) are popular.
Previous research has suggested that chronic sweetener intake may paradoxically increase the risk of obesity and metabolic disease.
In the study, researchers tested more than 3000 mother-infant pairs to examine the association of drinking artificially sweetened beverages during pregnancy and its effect on infant BMI in the first year of life.
A food questionnaire was used for dietary assessments during pregnancy and infant BMI was measured when they were 1 year old.
The team found more than a quarter of the women (29.5%) reported drinking artificially sweetened beverages during pregnancy, including 5.1% of women who reported drinking them daily.
Study results showed that daily drinking of artificially sweetened beverages, compared with no drinking of such beverages, was linked to an increase in infant BMI z score and a two-fold increased risk of an infant being overweight at 1 year of age.
Drinking sugar-sweetened beverages was not linked to infant BMI z scores.
The researchers acknowledge study limitations that include the potential for error in self-reported dietary outcomes. The study also cannot prove a causal association.
If you care about nutrition, please read studies that blackcurrants can reduce blood sugar after meal, and one avocado a day could protect you from heart disease.
For more information about nutrition, please see recent studies about supplements that could improve memory functions, and results showing a high-fiber diet could help reduce the dementia risk.
The study was published in JAMA Pediatrics and conducted by Meghan B. Azad et al.
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