Pregnant Women Should Avoid Artificial Sweeteners to Reduce Risk of Overweight Kids

Artificial sweeteners include aspartame, sucralose, stevia, and saccharin, which are commonly found in diet soda, tea and coffee.

Consuming ready made drinks and juices have become a part of our daily life. Since it is easy to use and has fewer calories, even pregnant women opt for it. But these drinks are made up of artificial sweeteners which do pose certain health risks.

A new study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics revealed that consuming artificially sweetened beverages during pregnancy can put the babies at risk of childhood obesity.

Role of Artificial Sweeteners and Glucose Intolerance
Artificial sweeteners, promoted as aids to diabetes prevention and weight loss, could actually hasten the development of glucose intolerance and metabolic disease.

‘Drinking artificially sweetened beverages during pregnancy increases the chances of higher infant weight. ’

The long-term study was conducted between 2009-2012 among 3000 mother and infant pairs. They were asked to fill a questionnaire and found that the pregnant women reportedly had consumed at least one artificially sweetened beverage daily.

They followed the participants for three years from their pregnancy period to till their kids were one-year-old. They found that regular consumption of artificial sweeteners was associated with a two-fold increase in the risk of an infant being overweight at one year of age.

But there was no link with sugar-sweetened beverages. The authors highlight the dangers of artificial sweeteners including infant obesity risk. Artificial sweeteners include aspartame, sucralose, stevia, and saccharin. They cautioned pregnant women to stay away from artificial sweeteners as it could get passed to the baby through breast milk.

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Source-Medindia

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