Women who drank artificially sweetened beverages like diet soda every day while pregnant were more likely a year later to have infants with a higher body mass index (BMI), according to a new study.
The researchers did not find a link between sugary beverages during pregnancy and babies’ BMI, which is a measure of weight in relation to height.
They did see an association with the total amount of sugar a pregnant woman consumes every day, “but no extra effect of sugary beverages,” said lead author Meghan B. Azad of Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada.
“There’s growing evidence in adults that artificial sweeteners may have counterintuitive relations with weight gain,” Azad told Reuters Health by phone.
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