Daily java while you're pregnant could make your children shorter: Study

Can drinking coffee while pregnant stunt the growth of children?

Researchers say a half-a-cup of java daily during pregnancy can reduce your child’s height by two centimetres once they’re in elementary school, according to the New York Post.

Published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the study looked at almost 2,500 American children, aged four to eight.

Previous similar studies have trusted mothers to be truthful about coffee consumption, but this one took blood samples to monitor caffeine levels and its metabolite paraxanthine.

“Though the clinical implications of an approximately two-centimetre height difference are unclear, our findings for height are similar in magnitude to those of children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy,” the study said.

“We consistently observed shorter height, which has been associated with increased risk of multiple cardiometabolic diseases in both pregnant and nonpregnant individuals.”

It still remains unclear why coffee may reduce children’s height, but the study says caffeine is a stimulant not metabolized by a fetus.

“It is important to determine whether in-utero caffeine exposure has long-term growth implications in offspring,” said the study.

Previously, studies have made the link between moderate coffee intake during pregnancy and a reduction in birth weight.