Here is some surprising news. We all know that pregnant women should limit their caffeine consumption since caffeine can lead to miscarriage and other issues. But it’s probably not well known that it just might lead to having overweight children. Pregnant women who consume over 200mg of caffeine a day are more at risk of having children who grow faster and are larger by their 8th birthdays. The study author, Associate Professor Verena Sengpiel, from Gothenburg University, said: “There may be good cause to increase the restriction of the recommended maximum of three cups of coffee per day..During pregnancy, elimination of caffeine is prolonged and it rapidly passes all biological membranes, including the blood-brain and placenta barriers, resulting in exposure of the foetus.”
The researchers looked at 50,943 pregnant women who were part of the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. Their children’s body sizes were measured 11 times between the time that they were six weeks old and 8 years old. The findings can be found in the journal BMJ Open
