Sugary cola drinks linked to higher gestational diabetes risk

Washington, Dec 1 (ANI): Drinking too much sugar-sweetened cola a week prior to pregnancy may increase risk of developing gestational diabetes, according to a new study.

The study was conducted by researchers from LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Public Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), Harvard School of Public Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School.

The research team studied a group of 13,475 women from the Nurses' Health Study II. During 10 years of follow-up, 860 incident GDM cases were identified.

After adjustment for known risk factors for GDM including age, family history of diabetes, parity, physical activity, smoking status, sugar-sweetened beverage intake, alcohol intake, pre-pregnancy BMI, and Western dietary pattern, intake of sugar-sweetened cola was positively associated with the risk of GDM.

No significant association was found for other sugar-sweetened beverages or diet beverages.

"Compared with women who consumed less than 1 serving per month, those who consumed more than 5 servings per week of sugar-sweetened cola had a 22 percent greater GDM risk," said Liwei Chen, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Public Health, and the lead author of the paper.

The study will be published in the December 2009 issue of Diabetes Care. (ANI)