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CNN
—

Starting the day with a hot cup of caffeinated coffee or tea may sound divine to some, but it could have negative effects on the babies of pregnant women, according to a new study.

Children who were exposed to small amounts of caffeine before birth were shorter, on average, than the children of people who did not consume caffeine during pregnancy, according to the study published Monday in the JAMA Network Open.

Children of parents who consumed caffeine while in the womb were shorter by age 4 than those whose parents didn’t — and the gap widened every year up to age 8, according to lead author Dr. Jessica Gleason, a perinatal epidemiologist.

“To be clear, these aren’t huge size differences, but there are these small size differences in the children of people who have consumed caffeine during pregnancy,” said Gleason, a research associate at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institutes of Child Health and Humans Development.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists currently recommends limiting caffeine consumption to less than 200 milligrams per day during pregnancy.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, a cup of caffeinated tea typically contains about 75 milligrams of caffeine, a cup of instant coffee about 100 milligrams, and a cup of filtered coffee about 140 milligrams. And even chocolate has about 31 milligrams of caffeine.

But the differences found in the most recent study were found even in children of parents who drank less than half a cup of coffee a day during pregnancy — well below current guidelines, Gleason said.

according to dr Gavin Pereira, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at Curtin University in Australia, is not clear whether this study actually shows the causality between the mother’s caffeine consumption and the height of the child. Pereira was not involved in the study.

“The correlation observed in this study can be explained by the existence of a common cause for both caffeine consumption and growth restriction, e.g. B. Poverty, stress and dietary factors,” Pereira said in a statement to the Science Media Centre.

If the shorter height in early childhood persisted into adulthood, there would be a chance that these children would be at risk of poor cardiometabolic outcomes, such as heart disease and diabetes, that are associated with shorter stature.

But there’s still no way to know if the difference persists into adulthood, and studies like this one that focus on population outcomes aren’t reason for individual families to panic, Gleason said.

Instead, these population-level trends should be considered in conjunction with other research to help organizations reevaluate their recommendations, Gleason said.

There have been conflicting studies in the past on whether caffeine consumption during pregnancy affects the fetus, but the evidence has come together in recent years, Gleason said.

A 2015 meta-analysis reviewing all existing research found that there is a dose-response relationship between caffeine consumption and smaller birth size. And a 2020 study found that there is no safe level of caffeine for a developing fetus.

Even without the panic Gleason warned about, some people might want to cut back on caffeine consumption — only to find that it’s easier said than done.

Remember that caffeine is found in coffee, tea, soft drinks, energy drinks and shots, as well as cocoa and chocolate. It’s also found in fortified snack foods, some energy bars, and even some pain relievers. (See the Center for Science in the Public Interest table for a more detailed list of caffeine content from various sources.)

A 2016 study from Johns Hopkins University found that having people identify situations or moods when they were most likely to crave caffeine helped them avoid situations that trigger cravings, especially in the first few weeks of the change of caffeine consumption. Caffeine drinkers might also have a plan when cravings hit, such as taking a five-minute relaxation break with deep breathing exercises.

Remember to always discuss any major lifestyle or diet changes with your doctor first, as changes may affect your mood or general health.

Editor’s note: Sign up for CNN’s Eat, But Better: Mediterranean Style. Our eight-part guide will show you a delicious, expert-backed eating style that will boost your health for a lifetime.

CNN
—

Starting the day with a hot cup of caffeinated coffee or tea may sound divine to some, but it could have negative effects on the babies of pregnant women, according to a new study.

Children who were exposed to small amounts of caffeine before birth were shorter, on average, than the children of people who did not consume caffeine during pregnancy, according to the study published Monday in the JAMA Network Open.

Children of parents who consumed caffeine while in the womb were shorter by age 4 than those whose parents didn’t — and the gap widened every year up to age 8, according to lead author Dr. Jessica Gleason, a perinatal epidemiologist.

“To be clear, these aren’t huge size differences, but there are these small size differences in the children of people who have consumed caffeine during pregnancy,” said Gleason, a research associate at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institutes of Child Health and Humans Development.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists currently recommends limiting caffeine consumption to less than 200 milligrams per day during pregnancy.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, a cup of caffeinated tea typically contains about 75 milligrams of caffeine, a cup of instant coffee about 100 milligrams, and a cup of filtered coffee about 140 milligrams. And even chocolate has about 31 milligrams of caffeine.

But the differences found in the most recent study were found even in children of parents who drank less than half a cup of coffee a day during pregnancy — well below current guidelines, Gleason said.

according to dr Gavin Pereira, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at Curtin University in Australia, is not clear whether this study actually shows the causality between the mother’s caffeine consumption and the height of the child. Pereira was not involved in the study.

“The correlation observed in this study can be explained by the existence of a common cause for both caffeine consumption and growth restriction, e.g. B. Poverty, stress and dietary factors,” Pereira said in a statement to the Science Media Centre.

If the shorter height in early childhood persisted into adulthood, there would be a chance that these children would be at risk of poor cardiometabolic outcomes, such as heart disease and diabetes, that are associated with shorter stature.

But there’s still no way to know if the difference persists into adulthood, and studies like this one that focus on population outcomes aren’t reason for individual families to panic, Gleason said.

Instead, these population-level trends should be considered in conjunction with other research to help organizations reevaluate their recommendations, Gleason said.

There have been conflicting studies in the past on whether caffeine consumption during pregnancy affects the fetus, but the evidence has come together in recent years, Gleason said.

A 2015 meta-analysis reviewing all existing research found that there is a dose-response relationship between caffeine consumption and smaller birth size. And a 2020 study found that there is no safe level of caffeine for a developing fetus.

Even without the panic Gleason warned about, some people might want to cut back on caffeine consumption — only to find that it’s easier said than done.

Remember that caffeine is found in coffee, tea, soft drinks, energy drinks and shots, as well as cocoa and chocolate. It’s also found in fortified snack foods, some energy bars, and even some pain relievers. (See the Center for Science in the Public Interest table for a more detailed list of caffeine content from various sources.)

A 2016 study from Johns Hopkins University found that having people identify situations or moods when they were most likely to crave caffeine helped them avoid situations that trigger cravings, especially in the first few weeks of the change of caffeine consumption. Caffeine drinkers might also have a plan when cravings hit, such as taking a five-minute relaxation break with deep breathing exercises.

Remember to always discuss any major lifestyle or diet changes with your doctor first, as changes may affect your mood or general health.