No link detected between maternal coffee consumption in pregnancy and neurodevelopmental disorders in children

While pregnant women are often cautioned to minimize coffee consumption, a study from Norway, Australia, and the United Kingdom shows no significant link between coffee use and neurological issues such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children.

Shannon D’Urso and colleagues used a technique called Mendelian randomization to analyze the association between coffee consumption and neurodevelopmental disorders (NDs) in offspring. D’Urso explains, “The benefit of this method is the effects of caffeine, alcohol, cigarettes and diet can be separated in the data, so we can look solely at the impact of caffeine on the pregnancy.”

The researchers, who analyzed data on tens of thousands of mother-child pairs, say, “Our observational analyses, which did not adjust for potential confounders, found that increased maternal coffee consumption was associated with many offspring NDs. However, after adjusting for potential confounders (maternal smoking, maternal alcohol consumption, parental education, and parental income), the previously significant effects of maternal coffee consumption on offspring ND outcomes attenuated towards zero.”

In addition, the researchers say, “Our Mendelian randomization analyses found little evidence for a causal effect between maternal coffee consumption and most offspring NDs.” While they detected a significant positive association between maternal coffee consumption and social communication difficulties in offspring at the age of eight years, individual-level Mendelian randomization analyses that adjusted for the effects of confounders showed that “the effect between coffee consumption and social communication difficulties at age eight years weakened and was no longer significant.” No association was seen between paternal coffee consumption and neurological issues in children.

The researchers conclude that their findings “provide little evidence for a causal effect of maternal coffee consumption on offspring NDs.” However, as caffeine may influence other pregnancy outcomes, they
recommend that pregnant women follow the advice of their doctors.

Citations

“Mendelian randomization analysis of maternal coffee consumption during pregnancy on offspring neurodevelopmental difficulties in the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa),” Shannon D’Urso, Robyn E. Wootton, Helga Ask, Caroline Brito Nunes, Ole A. Andreassen, Liang-Dar Hwang, Gunn-Helen Moen, David M. Evans, and Alexandra Havdahl, Psychological Medicine, October 9, 2024 (free online). Address: Shannon D’Urso, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of
Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australias. [email protected].

—and—

“Coffee during pregnancy may not be bad for baby’s brain development: study,” news release, University of Queensland, October 9, 2024.