Sugar rationing during and after World War II in the United Kingdom has helped a group of researchers to expand the evidence on how consuming sugar in the first years of life marks health in adulthood. Scientists, using a social situation that forced intake to be cut or greatly reduced during a window of time, have compared how children born during and after these restrictions are doing half a century later.
The results, published this Thursday in the magazine Scienceshow that the former have a lower risk of diabetes and hypertension, 35% and 20% respectively, than the latter. Furthermore, the appearance of these diseases can be delayed between two and four years depending only on this situation during the first 1,000 days of life from gestation, the period measured by the researchers. The study shows that what happens while babies are in the womb, that alone, can protect them; although the greatest reduction in risk occurs since sugar rationing extends beyond the first six months, when children begin to eat solid foods.
By age two, many children consume the seven teaspoons of sugar daily recommended for adults, and they almost triple that amount by adolescence.
“During rationing, the amount of sugar allowed for everyone – including pregnant women and children – was comparable to current dietary guidelines for some.
The divergence is notable from the age of 50
The research – developed by economists from universities in the United States and Canada – included 60,183 people born between October 1951 and March 1956. They were between 51 and 66 years old when they were surveyed to ask about their health situation and compare the groups. A total of 3,936 participants were diagnosed with diabetes and 19,644 with hypertension. “The risk of disease diagnosis increased with age for everyone, but it did so more rapidly among adults who were not exposed to rationing,” the study details. The divergence begins to be noticed when the participants are around 50 and becomes more acute after 60.
“The results seem to indicate that limiting the intake of simple sugar and its derivatives in childhood could prevent or delay in some way the development of chronic health problems,” says Jesús Francisco García Gavilán, researcher at the CIBERobn of the Carlos III Health Institute in statements to Science Media Centre. The expert considers that the research is valuable because it confirms previous results and because its findings “support the recommendations of clinical practice dietary guidelines.”
To avoid erroneous relationships, the research team found that the diet in the 1950s was similar between the cohorts, except for sugar; and no differences in the risk of disease due to conditions unrelated to diet were observed. In any case, García Gavilán points out, “the availability of ultra-processed products in those years could be very different from today.”
Childhood, the study recalls, is a critical period for developing a taste for sweets, or even addiction, and this can increase consumption throughout life. According to the data included in the research, “more than 70% of foods marketed to infants or young children contain added sugars in formula, foods or beverages” and “by the age of two, many children consume all seven teaspoons.” of daily sugar recommended for adults, and they almost triple in adolescence.”
“Our results contribute to this debate not only by linking sugar with health, but also by underscoring the importance of diet in the first years of life to control the risk of long-term metabolic diseases,” defend the scientists.
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