How much sugar a woman eats while she’s pregnant may affect her future children’s risk of developing allergies and allergic asthma, according to a study in the European Respiratory Journal. Although previous research has linked asthma and high-sugar intake in kids themselves, this is the first study to show that mothers’ diets may also play a role.
The new study analyzed data from nearly 9,000 women who were pregnant in the early 1990s, and from their children, who were tested for asthma and common allergies (like dust mites, cats and grass) at age 7. While pregnant, the women were asked about their weekly consumption of certain food groups and specific food items, including sugar, coffee and tea; their responses were used to calculate their intake of added sugar, not including natural sugars in fruits, vegetables or dairy products.
The researchers only saw weak evidence to suggest a link between women’s added sugar intake and their children’s chances of developing asthma overall. But when they looked specifically at allergic asthma—in which an asthma diagnosis is accompanied by a positive skin test for allergens—the link was much stronger. Children whose moms were in the top fifth for added sugar during pregnancy were twice as likely to have allergic asthma when compared to children whose moms were in the bottom fifth.
