Increased Diet Soda Consumption During Pregnancy Could Lead To Overweight Children, Study Finds
A study of 3,000 Canadian mothers found what researchers called a 'paradoxical' link between drinking artificial sweeteners, which carry fewer calories than sugar, and having an overweight baby.
The scientists found that mothers who during pregnancy drank artificially-sweetened drinks every day were far more likely to have a baby who was overweight when they were 12-months old.
"We found that about a third of the women in our study were consuming artificially-sweetened beverages during pregnancy, and about five percent were consuming them every day. And, in that group of routine consumers, or daily consumers – we found that the infants of these women were twice as likely to be overweight," Dr. Meghan Azad, the study's lead researcher and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Manitoba in Canada told KCBS.
The researchers found that the difference in weight came after birth.
"They weren't any heavier at birth. So, it seems to be a case of increased, or excess of weight gain during the first year of life," Azad said.
It may not be the soda behind the weight gain, but the environment the children are raised in, and the diets they are fed.
"We did find that women consuming more artificially-sweetened beverages were more likely to be obese. They were more likely to smoke, and to have poor quality diet," Azad said.