Limiting sugar in early years can offer chronic disease protection

Early-life rationing of sugar reduced diabetes and hypertension risk by about 35% and 20% during the UK's sugar rationing that began during World War II and concluded in September 1953, according to a recent study from the University of Southern California.

The study examined the impact of sugar exposure within 1,000 days since conception on diabetes and hypertension, leveraging quasi-experimental variation from the end of the UK’s sugar rationing in the early 1950s.

Rationing restricted sugar intake to levels within current dietary guidelines, yet consumption nearly doubled immediately post-rationing.

The study used an event study design with UK Biobank data comparing adults conceived just before or after rationing ended. early-life rationing reduced diabetes and hypertension risk by about 35% and 20%, respectively, and delayed disease onset by 4 and 2 years.

Protection was evident with in-utero exposure and increased with postnatal sugar restriction, especially after six months when solid foods likely began. In-utero sugar rationing alone accounted for about one third of the risk reduction.

The study was published recently in the journal Science.