In a double-blind randomized trial, coffee intake was shown to decrease fat mass in healthy overweight adults, suggesting that coffee could be modulating lower type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) risk (as ascertained in observational studies) among adults through pathways involving adiposity. However, it is not known if earlier-life (e.g., in-utero, adolescence) exposure to coffee intake could modulate risk of developing childhood obesity and, ultimately, T2DM later in life. In individuals free of diabetes, cancer or cardiovascular disease at baseline, we examined the relationship between: 1) adolescent caffeinated coffee intake (assessed using a validated high-school FFQ in 1998) and later-life (mean ages 43 to 57 years) T2DM risk [self-reported physician-diagnosed cases during follow-up (1998-2011) confirmed by a validated supplementary questionnaire] among 47,355 middle-aged women in the Nurses’ Health Study II (NHSII) using Cox proportional hazards regression; and, 2) prenatal/perinatal coffee intake [ascertained using validated FFQs adjacent to pregnancy (1989-1995)] among 7,629 mothers in NHSII and risk of obesity [defined according to age- and sex- specific BMI thresholds during follow-up (2004-2013)] among 10,657 male and female offspring in the Growing Up Today Study II using log-binomial regression. Adolescent caffeinated coffee intake was associated with 17% lower T2DM risk [≥1 cup/day vs. never/rarely: HR 0.83 (95% CI 0.71-0.98); P-trend=0.03] in later-life. Moderate to large increase (median: +17.5 cups/week) in caffeinated coffee intake from adolescence to adulthood was associated with 20% lower T2DM risk [>1 cup/day increase vs. no change: HR 0.80 (95% CI 0.72-0.89); P-trend<0.0001] in later-life. Total caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee intake during peri-pregnancy was not significantly associated with childhood obesity risk.

Disclosure

D. Alperet: None. K. Dhana: None. J.E. Chavarro: None. Q. Sun: Consultant; Self; Emavant Solutions GmbH.

Funding

National Institutes of Health (UM1CA176726, UM1CA176726, P30DK046200, U54CA155626, T32DK007703-16, HD066963, HL096905, DK084001, OH009803, MH087786)

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