US EditionRestricting Sugar Consumption in Utero and in Early Childhood Significantly Reduces Risk of Midlife Chronic Disease, Study Finds
Sugar restriction from conception to age 2 is linked to a 20% lower adult cardiovascular risk, including reduced heart attack and stroke rates, according to a UK study.
- On October 22, the British Medical Journal published a study analysing 63,433 UK Biobank participants born between October 1951 and March 1956, linking early-life sugar restriction to lower adult heart risks.
- The study uses wartime rationing as context, noting sugar allowances stayed under 40 g per day with no added sugars for babies under two during UK sugar rationing policy .
- Compared with never-exposed cohorts, people exposed in utero plus one to two years had a 20% lower risk of cardiovascular disease and up to two and a half years delayed onset.
- Researchers say the effect could save costs, extend life expectancy, and improve quality of life, noting people with diabetes in the United States incur about $12,000 annual medical expenditures, and the results `underscore the cardiac benefit of early life policies focused on sugar rationing`.
- While authors note limitations, they emphasise the study is observational with limited individual dietary data; Prof Gunter Kuhnle and Dr Stephen Burgess urge further research on individual-level dietary exposures and challenges reducing added sugars in baby and toddler foods.
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13 Articles
The Independent
The Independent (US)The ingredient you should reduce in your child’s diet to boost their heart health
Those with little sugar in their diet as a child had better heart health in adulthood
Medical Xpress
Medical DialoguesEarly life sugar restriction linked to lasting heart benefits in adulthood
Restricted sugar intake during early life is linked to lower risks of several heart conditions in adulthood, including heart attack, heart failure, and stroke, finds a study published by The BMJ using data from the end of UK sugar rationing in 1953.
Restricting sugar consumption in utero and in early childhood significantly reduces risk of midlife chronic disease, study finds
Children who experienced sugar restrictions during their first 1,000 days after conception had up to 35% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes and as much as 20% less risk of hypertension as adults. The researchers used contemporary data from the U.K. Biobank, a database of medical histories and genetic, lifestyle and other disease risk factors, to study the effect of those early-life sugar restrictions on health outcomes of adults conceived …
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