RATIONALE
Cross-sectional studies have linked intake of high fructose corn syrup sweetened beverages with asthma in school children.
OBJECTIVE
To examine associations of maternal prenatal and early childhood intake of sugar sweetened beverages and fructose with current asthma in mid-childhood (median 7.7years).
METHODS
We assessed maternal pregnancy (1st and 2nd trimester average) and child (median 3.3years) intake of sugar sweetened beverages and total fructose using food frequency questionnaires in 1068 mother-child pairs from Project Viva, a prospective pre-birth cohort. In a multivariable analysis, we examined associations of quartiles of maternal and child sugar sweetened beverage, juice, and total fructose intake with child current asthma in mid-childhood, assessed by questionnaire as ever doctor-diagnosed asthma plus taking asthma medications or reporting wheezing in the past 12months.
RESULTS
Higher maternal pregnancy sugar sweetened beverage consumption (mean 0.6 servings/day; range 0-5) was associated with younger maternal age, non-white race/ethnicity, lower education and income, and higher pre-pregnancy BMI. Adjusting for pre-pregnancy BMI and other covariates, comparing quartile 4 v. quartile 1, higher maternal pregnancy intake of sugar sweetened beverages (OR 1.70; 95%CI 1.08, 2.67) and total fructose (OR 1.58; 0.98, 2.53) were associated with greater odds of mid-childhood current asthma (prevalence=19%). Higher early childhood fructose intake (quartile 4 v. quartile 1) was also associated with mid-childhood current asthma in models adjusted for maternal sugar sweetened beverages (OR 1.79; 1.07, 2.97) and after additional adjustment for mid-childhood BMI z-score (OR 1.77; 1.06, 2.95).
CONCLUSION
Higher sugar sweetened beverage and fructose intake during pregnancy and in early childhood may influence childhood asthma development, in part through mechanisms apart from adiposity.