Maternal intake of soft drinks during pregnancy may be linked to ADHD symptoms in the offspring, a new study in the European Journal of Nutrition unveiled.
The research involved the use of a food frequency questionnaire to assess each participants’ maternal diet mid-pregnancy. An estimated 39,000 mothers gave their input via the questionnaire when their child had reached age 8.
The study considered the maternal intake of soft drinks, but no daily intake measures.
“In this large population-based cohort study, we found that daily intake of 1 or more serving of sweetened carbonated beverages (SCB) as compared to less than 1 serving daily during mid-pregnancy was associated with a weak increase in ADHD symptom score and an increased risk of offspring having six or more ADHD symptoms at 8 years of age,” according to the findings.
“The magnitudes of associations in this study are weak, suggesting SCB only plays a minor role in the aetiology of ADHD.”
“However, further research into causal agents is warranted, as SCBs are common exposures, and even a little reduction of risk may still be of importance for children’s ADHD symptoms at the population level,” researchers suggested.
