Caffeine Intake During Pregnancy in Different Intrauterine Environments and its Association with Infant Anthropometric Measurements at 3 and 6 Months of Age

Objective To investigate the association between maternal caffeine intake during pregnancy and infant anthropometric measurements at age 3 and 6 months. Methods Longitudinal observational study of mother–child pairs stratified into five groups: diabetic women (DM), hypertensive women (HYP), smoking mothers (SMO), mothers of infants small for gestational age (SGA), and controls (CTL). Pairs were recruited from three public hospitals in Porto Alegre, Brazil, from 2011 to 2015, using a convenience sampling strategy. The Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) was administered on postpartum day 7 to evaluate maternal caffeine intake during pregnancy. The anthropometric measurements of interest (weight, length, and skinfold thickness) were assessed at birth and at age 3 and 6 months. Linear regression was used to analyze the interaction between caffeine intake and skinfold thickness. Results Overall, 272 mother–child pairs were investigated (41 DM, 26 HYP, 68 SMO, 25 SGA, and 112 CTL). There were no differences in anthropometric measurements between infants born to mothers who had and had not consumed caffeine during pregnancy (P > 0.05). Children of mothers in the DM group had the highest adjusted average skinfold thicknesses at 3 months. An interaction between maternal caffeine intake during pregnancy and the sum of skinfolds at age 3 months was found in the DM and CTL groups (P < 0.05). However, significant differences were not observed at 6 months. Conclusions Maternal caffeine intake influenced infants skinfold thickness measurements at 3 months of age. This parameter was reduced in infants born to mothers with DM and increased in those born to healthy control mothers.