Pregnancy coffee intake was associated with higher childhood ADHD odds
An Egyptian case-control study and pooled evidence found an association, leaving causality and any safe intake threshold unresolved.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Frequent coffee consumption during pregnancy was associated with higher odds of ADHD in children in the Egyptian study, including after additional statistical adjustments. The meta-analysis also found higher odds. These observational findings cannot show that coffee caused ADHD, explain why the association occurred, or establish a safe intake threshold during pregnancy.
The abstract leaves frequent consumption, reference intake, and children's ages undefined. The authors call for prospective studies using objective caffeine measurements to clarify causality.
What researchers found
Offspring ADHD odds, further-adjusted case-control analysis
Frequent coffee consumption during pregnancy was linked to 1.82 times the odds in an unspecified reference-intake group. This is not a probability ratio; children's ages at assessment were unreported.
How evidence was assembled
The case-control study compared mothers of children diagnosed with ADHD with mothers of typically developing children. Researchers used statistical adjustments and then combined this study's results with earlier research.
Odds and probability differ
The odds ratio measures an association after statistical adjustment. It does not give a child's probability of developing ADHD, or show how many additional diagnoses occurred, and adjustment does not establish causation.
The original publication
Maternal Coffee Consumption During Pregnancy and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Offspring: A Case-Control Study and Meta-Analysis.
Arafa A, Said ASA, Elkady E et al.
Int J Environ Res Public Health · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 41464442
- Record checked
AI-assisted research and writing. This explains one selected publication; it is not a complete review of everything known. Our approach.
One more question, understood.
Keep track of the research you’ve explored.