Caffeine intake during pregnancy

doi:10.1136/bmj.a2316

Published 3 November 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a2316
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2316

Editorials

Caffeine intake during pregnancy

Should be minimised, but not replaced with unhealthy alternatives

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

In the linked cohort study (doi:10.1136/bmj.a2332), the CAREStudy Group reports that consuming caffeine during pregnancyis associated with an increased risk of fetal growth restriction.¹For 100-199 mg caffeine a day the odds ratio was 1.2 (95% confidenceinterval, 0.9 to 1.6), for 200-299 mg a day it was 1.4 (1.0to 2.0), and for over 300 mg a day it was 1.5 (1.1 to 2.1).

Coffee and tea contain a variety of chemical compounds, butmost of the health concerns relate to caffeine. One cup of coffeecontains about 100 mg of caffeine and a cup of tea about halfof this amount; the exact amount varies according to cup size,brewing methods, and brands of coffee or tea.² Caffeine is alsopresent in cola, chocolate, cocoa, and some drugs. Most of thecaffeine that adults consume comes from coffee,³ but in thepresent study 60% . . . [Full text of this article]

Jørn Olsen, professor¹, Bodil Hammer Bech, assistant professor²

¹ UCLA School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, Box 951772, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, USA, ² Institute of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, University of Aarhus, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark

jo@ucla.edu

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