A high-sugar diet during lactation affects infant cognition, but it is not a decisive factor

Original title: A high-sugar diet during lactation affects infant cognition, but it's not a decisive factor
A recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that mothers who consume high-sugar drinks while breastfeeding can impair their cognitive development at an early age.
previously, the team found that women who drink more high-sugar drinks after child-rearing not only increase their own risk of obesity, but also allow newborns to consume too much sugar from breast milk. This time, the team looked at the relationship between a mother's high-sugar diet and toddler's cognition, and found that the more sugary drinks a mother consumed while breastfeeding, the lower the child's cognitive score at age 2.
, science and technology daily reporter interviewed The Third Hospital of Peking University, the director of pediatrics Han Yu. She believes that this article has some scientific value, but it is not a large sample, design is particularly rigorous, for the future of female lactating nutritious diet has absolute guiding significance. "The cognitive development of infants is influenced by a number of factors, mainly depending on the family's parenting style and eating habits, and the amount of fructose in breast milk is a single factor." She said.
The parenting environment has an effect on a child's cognitive level
the researchers speculate that the high-sugar diet during lactation affects early childhood cognition," possibly because too much of the sugar a mother consumes during breastfeeding enters the child's body through breast milk, and too much sugar may affect the child's brain development. Han
that excessive intake of fruit juice and sweets not only affects children's respiratory resistance, but also affects children's cognitive development, which has become a common consensus. Therefore, nutrition guidelines at home and abroad require control of a child's juice or sweets intake.
In the study, the team asked 88 women to fill out food diaries during the 24th, first and sixth months of breastfeeding, analyzing the sugar content of fruit juice drinks consumed by mothers in their diets, and using the Bailey Infant Development Scale to assess their children's cognitive development levels at age 2.
"Bailey Infant Development Scale" is a relatively comprehensive and objective evaluation of cognitive ability. Han said that cognitive ability is the sum of the factors related to nerves, psychology, behavior and speech, and children's cognitive ability has different emphasis at each stage of growth. The study assessed the cognitive abilities of 2-year-olds, which were mainly manifested in large-motion, fine-exercise, and social interaction.
of the 88 mothers who were divided into normal groups, obesity groups and hyper-recombination according to their pre-pregnancy weight, the super-recombined children consumed slightly more calories than the normal group of children, and the sugar intake was significantly higher. These children with high-sugar eating habits also had relatively low cognitive scores at the age of two.
"s findings are consistent with what we have generally believed in the past. 'The paper suggests, through small sample scientific experiments, that obese mothers who eat sweets and drink fruit juice will have relatively low cognitive abilities and scores if they maintain this diet during pregnancy and lactation, ' Han said. However, the article does not excavate the deep socio-psychological reasons. "
Han's analysis, cognitive development in inflegion is influenced by many factors, not just fructose in breast milk." Children under the age of two develop their own eating habits, exercise habits and corresponding physical conditions under the influence of family environment, all of which are related to the development of cognitive ability. In the case of eating habits, obese and overweight mothers are more likely to prefer sweets or high-sugar drinks, which are characterized by a tendency to be irritable, tend to use sweets to calm their moods, and children are more likely to be influenced by their mothers' emotions, which can affect their cognitive abilities.
a healthy and balanced diet should run through breastfeeding
Can the effects of a high-sugar diet on your child's cognition be long-term or short-term?
" study showed that children in the study had slightly lower cognitive scores when they were two years old, but later on they could also rely on other combinations of factors to remedy them. Han explained that the mother's intake of high-sugar beverages is a single factor affecting a child's cognitive abilities, and in the long run, the child's parenting environment is more critical to cognitive improvement, including family parenting, parent-child emotional communication, and physical training in later stages of the child's life. The best way to do this is through predictive prevention, where mothers follow a scientific, healthy diet from the start of pregnancy and raise their children with a positive, optimistic, peaceful attitude. In addition, while paying attention to the physical growth and development of children, through a planned nutrition program, targeted exercise, relaxed and pleasant family environment, to cultivate children's healthy daily habits, in order to raise healthy physical, mental and psychological children. Han said.
fact, the diet of nursing mothers directly affects the nutritional content, nutritional value and even the quality of breast milk. Han suggested that a healthy and balanced diet should run throughout the lactation period, so that your child's breast milk intake will be relatively balanced nutrition.
not only that, but also the mother's eating habits can affect the child's taste changes and future dietary orientation, pregnant or lactating love to eat tomatoes, the child is more likely to eat tomatoes after birth. Even more surprising is that the mother's food will make a subtle change in the taste of breast milk, the mother likes to eat spicy, the spicy ingredients in the food passed on to the child through breast milk, coupled with the addition of complementary foods to the child and the impact of family eating habits, children may also be inclined to eat spicy flavor in the future.
"the child is exposed to the various flavors of the mother's food intake from breast milk, and in the process of eating breast milk, a similar eating habit to that of the mother." Therefore, only the mother's eating habits are healthy, in order to let the child in a relatively healthy eating environment, the child itself can form a healthy eating habits. Han said. (Tang Fang)