Dear moms-to-be, avoid sugary drinks. They can increase risk of asthma in your baby

Consuming that fruit juice or fizzy drinks during pregnancy may increase their child’s risk of developing asthma at ages seven and nine, a study has recently warned.

Sugary drinks are not just unhealthy for you but they can also harm your child. According to researchers, children between the ages of seven and nine may be at greater risk for developing asthma if they consumed high amounts of fructose in early childhood or their mothers drank a lot of sugar-sweetened beverages while pregnant.

Lead study author Sheryl L Rifas-Shiman from Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute said that avoiding high intake of sugary beverages during pregnancy and in early childhood could be one of several ways to reduce the risk of childhood asthma. The researchers analysed 1,068 mother-child pairs, designed to find ways to improve the health of mothers and their children.

After their first and second trimesters, mothers who participated in the study completed questionnaires about their food and beverage consumption, including regular soda and fruit drinks. When their children reached early childhood (3.3 years), the mothers completed another questionnaire to report their children’s consumption of a variety of foods and beverages, including regular sodas and fruit drinks. Asthma in mid-childhood was determined by a mother reporting a doctor’s diagnosis of asthma, plus wheezing or asthma medication use in the past year.

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