Cutting sugar in the first 1000 days of a baby’s life from conception, can reduce the risk of diabetes and hypertension later in life, a study suggests.
Researchers used UK Biobank data to compare the health of adults conceived before and after sugar rationing ended in September 1953. Sugar rationing restricted sugar intake to within current dietary guidelines, but when rationing ended, sugar consumption nearly doubled.
Medical information from more than 60,000 people born between 1951 and 1956 showed nearly 4000 had developed diabetes and almost 20,000 had hypertension.
The researchers found that early-life rationing reduced diabetes and hypertension risk by around 35% and 20%, respectively. It also delayed disease onset by four years (diabetes) and two years (hypertension). In-utero sugar rationing, specifically, accounted for about a third of risk reduction.
Co-author Paul Gertler said: ‘Sugar early in life is the new tobacco, and we should treat it as such by holding food companies accountable to reformulate baby foods with healthier options and regulate the marketing and tax sugary foods targeted at kids.’
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