Impact of tea and coffee consumption during pregnancy on children’s cognitive development

Evidence on the association between maternal tea/coffee consumption and children's cognitive development is limited. This study included 1423 mother-child pairs from the Chinese National Birth Cohort (CNBC). Maternal tea/coffee consumption status was collected in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy. Cognitive development was assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development III (BSID-III) in children aged averagely 36-months. We utilized group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM) to fit trajectories of maternal tea/coffee consumption across the three trimesters of pregnancy. Linear regression models were used to analyze the association between maternal tea/coffee consumption and children's cognitive development scores. Positive associations between maternal tea consumption during pregnancy and children's cognitive development were observed. Children of mothers who belonged to a continuous tea drinking trajectory throughout pregnancy had higher cognition, fine motor, and gross motor scores than those whose mothers belonged to a trajectory of tea-drinking in the 1st trimester of pregnancy, only. Comparison of tea-drinkers (yes/no) in each trimester separately indicated that tea-drinking in the second and third trimesters were more strongly associated with the outcomes than tea-drinking in the 1st trimester. The second and third trimesters of pregnancy might be key periods regarding maternal tea consumption affecting children's cognitive development. No significant association were found between maternal coffee consumption during pregnancy and children's cognitive development. The GBTM modelling provides clues to truly reflect the status and trajectory of pregnant women's tea and coffee consumption across different trimesters as their lifestyles change dynamically throughout pregnancy, which provides new motivation to investigate the association between maternal life pattern with offspring's cognitive development.