Diabetes risk increases in adults who, as children, have a preference for sweets
Diabetes risk increases in adults who, as children, have a preference for sweets
It is hard to believe: A sugar-rich diet in the first two years of life is related to a Higher risk of diabetes and high-blood pressure decades later. This emerges from an analysis of the shortage of sugar in the United Kingdom in the 1950s.
The amount of sugar that a child consumed after his sixth month of life had the greatest impact on the later risk of developing a chronic illness. But also for people who were exposed to more sugar in the womb, the risk of Diabetes and high blood pressure higher compared to those that were generated at the time of a sugar restriction.
Economist Tadeja Gračner was pregnant with her first child and had to stay in bed with medical advice when they came together with their colleagues on these results, which were published on October 31st in the magazine Science 1 . "I just thought: 'No, no, no. That is the last thing I need.'" She says. "I probably ate a chocolate bar at the time."
However, the results do not mean that pregnant women and parents of small children have to completely delete sugar from their own diet or that of their children, explains Gračner, who works at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. However, it could make sense to reduce the supply: In the USA, pregnant and breastfeeding women usually consume more than three times the recommended amount of added sugar. "It's about moderation," says Gračner.The long -term consequences of childhood diet
The study from the United Kingdom is not the first to link nutrition in early life with the risk of diseases in later life. Earlier investigations have shown that Hunger in the womb can double the risk of diabetes in later life .
Data from tragedies such as famines and wars are often difficult to interpret, says Valentina Duque, economist at the American University in Washington DC. "Such historical shocks often affect many different aspects," she explains. "You can't say exactly what is related to nutrition, stress or changes in income or in the dynamics of budget."
The shortage of sugar in the United Kingdom offered an opportunity to examine the influence of nutrition on later life more precisely. The economic difficulties during the Second World War forced the government to introduce food rations, and the restrictions on the sugar were only abolished in 1953, years after the end of the war. At this point, most of the other nutritional aspects had returned to a normal level in order to meet daily recommendations.
Gračner had the idea for the project years ago when they came up with an article about the abolition of the sugar shortage and saw pictures of children who stormed the bakeries in droves when the restrictions ended.
When Gračner founded her own research group and developed a proposal to investigate this event with her colleagues, another tool was available: The UK Biobank, a repository genetic and medical data from half a million participants . After the team had confirmed that the sugar was dramatically increased after the rations were lifted, BioBank searched for people who were organized between October 1951 and June 1954 when the rations were valid. Thereupon they compared the health of these people with the health of people who were organized between July 1954 and March 1956, i.e. after the rations were lifted.
undeniable effects
The researchers found that people who were created during the sugar restrictions had a 35% lower risk of diabetes and a 20% lower risk of high blood pressure than people who had been generated after rationing.
The size of this effect is surprisingly large, says Duque. "It is undeniable," she emphasizes. "The big change here is related to sugar." Duque is of the opinion that the results should help to investigate pregnant women about the importance of good nutrition.
Gračner agrees that education is crucial, but does not want concerned parents to overreact. "Pregnant women already have so much too worried," she says. "If you consume a little sugar here and there, everything will be good."
-
Gracner, T., Boone, C. & Gertler, P. J. Science https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adn5421 (2024).