Are you a mom with a major sweet tooth? A new study suggests that you should think twice before eating another scoop of ice cream, because sugary foods and drinks during pregnancy have been linked to children’s allergies.
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Researchers in the United Kingdom found the correlation after examining data gathered from nearly 9,000 mother and kid pairs to track the health of families. They then compared pregnant women’s intake of free sugars - present in honey, syrups and unsweetened fruit juices - with the number of allergy and asthma diagnoses among kids beginning at age 7.
They concluded that children of women with the highest sugar intake, 82 to 345 grams of sugar per day, had a 38 percent higher chance of being diagnosed with allergies compared to kids of women with lower sugar intakes, less than 34 grams of sugar per day.
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Additionally, they found that kids whose moms were sugar lovers had a 73 percent increased risk of having two or more allergens and a 101 percent increased risk of having asthma.
While more research will be needed to determine the cause, Annabelle Bedard, lead author of the study, told CNN that “we cannot rule out the possibility that the main findings arose by chance.”
In the meantime, Bedard suggested the women follow nutritional guidelines and keep a close eye on how much sugar they are eating.
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