Diet Drinks During Pregnancy May Be Worse Than Regular Soda

This study doesn’t prove causation yet, only that there is some link between these beverages and infant BMI, Azad said. “It’s not time to ban them or tell everyone not to consume them, but it does raise a question,” she said. Many pregnant women already try to avoid artificial sweeteners, she said. Infant BMI may not be the best measure of current and future health, although BMI is tied to health outcomes like diabetes, Azad said. The infants in this study have now turned three years old and will be reassessed at age five to see if the pattern persisted. “I would have expected sugar-sweetened beverages to also be linked to BMI as that is typically found in studies of children and adults,” Pereira said. “And, I am suspicious about whether artificially sweetened beverages really impact obesity risk in a causal way.”  People who consume a lot of artificially sweetened beverages tend to be overweight or obese to start with, which may have an effect, he said.   SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1Zxzf2S JAMA Pediatrics, online May 9, 2016. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news