There are guidelines now set when it comes to caffeine consumption during pregnancy. The researchers recommend that women consume less than the typical 12 ounce cup of coffee. That’s because this leads to gaps in height. They saw how these happened when the pregnant women drank less than the recommended amount of coffee as well as the other caffeinated beverages.
When the fetus is exposed to low amount of caffeine even while in the womb, this may lead to shorter height during childhood. This was what the new study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) suggested. Children of pregnant moms who had low caffeine intake (including when the cup is lower than the current recommendation of 200 milligrams [mg] each day) were slightly shorter than those who were born to women who didn’t consume caffeine at all. They saw the gaps in height widen to 2 centimeters (cm) when the children reached ages 4 and 8 years old. The findings were published October 31 in JAMA Network Open.
“Our findings suggest that even low caffeine intake during pregnancy can have long-term effects on child growth,” said the co-lead author, Katherine Grantz, MD, when she spoke in a press release.
While the observed height differences were small, in fact, it was less than an inch, there is also no need to panic just yet because they believe that further research is needed. They also need to determine if the said differences have an effect on the child’s health, said Dr. Grantz. “Pregnant people should discuss caffeine consumption with their healthcare providers,” she said.
Pregnant Women Should Only Consume Less Than 200 Mg of Caffeine Each Day
Current guidelines have been set when it comes to taking caffeine while pregnant. The health experts recommend that they have less than 200 mg per day, which is what’s norm in a 12-ounce (oz) coffee cup. As for tea, energy drinks, soft drinks, and chocolate, these also may contain caffeine in different amounts.
Those guidelines set have been researched and these say that than 200 mg of caffeine each day does not cause miscarriage or preterm birth, as per the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). However, further study is still needed. Experts need to see that when the expectant mom is exposed to caffeine will have an impact on the child after birth. NIH research published on March 25, 2021, in JAMA Network Open saw how taking moderate amounts of caffeine during pregnancy could bring about smaller birth size.
Caffeine Intake Didn’t Have an Impact on Weight, BMI, or Obesity Risk in Children
To check on what they call maternal caffeine consumption and how this may have affect height, weight, body mass index (BMI) and obesity risk for children, they analyzed concentrations of caffeine and the breakdown product, paraxanthine. They looked at blood samples that they got from 2,410 pregnant women in two older studies: the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) study and the Collaborative Perinatal Project (CCP).
In order to isolate the compound itself, they controlled several other factors that may impact child growth such as maternal height, pre-pregnancy weight, and smoking status.
While the researchers didn’t see how caffeine made a difference in terms of weight, BMI, or obesity risk of the children, they did see the link between caffeine consumption and height from both the studies.
Consuming Caffeine Amounts Minimally While Pregnant Was Linked to Shorter Children
Of the 788 children involved in the ECHO study, those born from moms who had the most amounts of caffeine were, on average, 1.5 cm shorter. As for the study itself, pregnant women involved consumed on average less than 50 mg of caffeine each day. Then, child growth was measured once when they were at an average 7 years old.
The CCP study had a total of 1,622 mother-child pairs. They were both measured at regular time intervals from birth to 8 years old. With this, the researchers were able to track changes in height during the given time period. For this group, the caffeine was higher as it averaged to around 200 mg each day.
Starting at 4 years of age, the children whose had the highest amounts of caffeine were shorter. In fact the gap increased from 0.68 cm at age 4 to 2.2 cm at age 8, which was already indicative of the impact. In fact, the study saw how daily amounts of caffeine taken daily and while pregnant were linked to shorter children that they observed until they were 8 years old, the researchers had written.
“Future research on caffeine consumption during pregnancy should follow child growth over time to determine whether these height gaps continue into adulthood and if they are linked to a greater risk of cardiometabolic diseases,” said Jessica Gleason, PhD, MPH in the press release. She is also co-author of the study.
There are No Known Health Risks Linked to Those Less Than an Inch Shorter
The study in itself was well-designed and well-executed. However, the findings made on height didn’t reveal much significance clinically, said Talla Motakef Widelock, MD. She is an obstetrician-gynecologist at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She was also not part of the study made.
“For example, if the children were found to have a BMI that indicated they were below or above a healthy weight, that could impact their health,” says Dr. Widelock. “But a 2 cm difference in height — less than an inch — in this specific age group of 4 to 8 years old — that hasn’t been shown to impact health,” she stated.
While investigators made the effort to control for several factors, there are also other ways to impact height at that age. These were not taken into consideration when the study was made. Factors such as height of the father were not included, said Widelock.
Should Expectant Mothers Avoid Drinking Coffee?
This is a common question asked. In order to truly know what’s best for the unborn child, these women need to consult with an expert so that they can agree on the safe level of caffeine consumption while she has yet to give birth, advised Widelock.
“On the basis of these findings, I would not change my current recommendations around caffeine consumption to my patients. Right now, we don’t know of any adverse outcomes from consuming less than 200 mg of caffeine a day — and that’s the current guidance,” she said.
While the findings made are worth noting, more research still needs to be made before we can come up with a solid conclusion and say that there are long-term adverse effects for children based on such levels of caffeine consumption, said Widelock.
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