Study: Sugary cola drinks linked to higher risk of gestational diabetes

NEW YORK Women that drink more than five servings of sugar-sweetened cola per week prior to pregnancy appear to have significantly elevated risk of developing diabetes during pregnancy, according to a new study.

Gestational diabetes mellitus, defined as glucose intolerance beginning during pregnancy, is one of the most common pregnancy complications. Women with GDM are at increased risk for complications and illness during pregnancy and delivery, as well as post-pregnancy Type 2 diabetes. Children of mothers with GDM are at increased risk for obesity, glucose intolerance, and early onset diabetes.

Researchers from LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Public Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Harvard School of Public Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, 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, prepregnancy 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.

The research team "compared with women who consumed less than one serving per month, those who consumed more than 5 servings per week of sugar-sweetened cola had a 22% greater GDM risk," noted Liwei Chen, MD, PhD, lead author of the study and assistant professor of Epidemiology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Public Health. "We don't know why significant association was only found in sugar-sweetened cola, but not other types of sugar-sweetened beverages -- fruit drinks, other soft drinks, etc.," Chen added. "One of the explanations could be the tremendous popularity of cola in the U.S."

Chen said that the study was the first to examine the impact of sugar-sweetened beverages on gestational diabetes mellitus risk.

"This finding is important because sugar-sweetened beverages are the leading source of added sugars in the American diet, particularly in the age group most likely to conceive. Cutting down sugary drinks is clearly an important way to reduce this common pregnancy complication."

The paper will published in the December 2009 issue of Diabetes Care.