Association between artificially sweetened soft drinks and preterm birth

January 01, 0001

Association between artificially sweetened soft drinks and preterm birth

Artificially sweetened soft drinks are often promoted as an alternative to sugar sweetened drinks. However, the safety of artificial sweeteners has been disputed, and consequences of high intakes of artificial sweeteners for pregnant women have been minimally addressed. These Icelandic and Danish authors examined the association between intakes of sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened soft drinks and preterm delivery in a prospective cohort analyses of 59,334 women from the Danish National Birth Cohort (1996-2002). Soft drink intake was assessed in midpregnancy by using a food- frequency questionnaire. Preterm delivery (less than 37 wk) was the primary outcome measure. Covariate information was assessed by telephone interviews.

They found: "There was an association between intake of artificially sweetened carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks and an increased risk of preterm delivery. In comparison with women with no intake of artificially sweetened carbonated soft drinks, the adjusted odds ratio for women who consumed at least 1 serving of artificially sweetened carbonated soft drinks/d was 1.38. The corresponding odds ratio for women who consumed at least 4 servings of artificially sweetened carbonated soft drinks/d was 1.78. The association was observed for normal-weight and overweight women. A stronger increase in risk was observed for early preterm and moderately preterm delivery than with late-preterm delivery. No association was observed for sugar-sweetened carbonated soft drinks or for sugar-sweetened noncarbonated soft drinks."

The authors concluded: "Daily intake of artificially sweetened soft drinks may increase the risk of preterm delivery. Further studies are needed to reject or confirm these findings."

The widespread consumption of these soft drinks heightens the importance of further research on this topic.

For the full abstract, click here.

Am J Clin Nutr 92(3):626-633, September 2010 © 2010 to American Society for Clinical Nutrition
Intake of artificially sweetened soft drinks and risk of preterm delivery: a prospective cohort study in 59,334 Danish pregnant women. Thorhallur I Halldorsson, Marin Strøm, Sesilje B Petersen and Sjurdur F Olsen. Correspondence to: Dr. Halldorsson: [email protected]

Category: W. Pregnancy, Childbirth, Family Planning, T. Keywords: preterm birth, artificial sweetener, carbonated soft drinks, cohort study, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Linda French, Toledo, Ohio. Posted on Global Family Doctor 7 September 2010

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