“Sugar early in life is the new tobacco”: Scientists urge food companies to reformulate baby foods and tax sugary options

A period of darkness followed after World War II for a number of reasons — one of them being the limited access to sweets and sugar. Between 1942 and 1953, the UK imposed sugar rationing to prevent hoarding, where sugar intake averaged at 40 grams per day. And this purported deprivation had some surprisingly positive effects!

Recent research on individuals born in the 1950s has revealed a startling connection between early life sugar exposure and the development of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and hypertension later in life. The study found that limiting sugar intake during the critical first 1,000 days of life — from conception to nearly age three — can significantly reduce the risk of these conditions.

Published in the journal Science, the study analysed data from the UK Biobank and compared the health outcomes of individuals born before and after the end of World War II sugar rationing in 1953 — after which sugar and sweet intake doubled to 80 grams per day.

Notably, overall nutrient intake remained relatively stable during the rationing, with protein and fat consumption largely unaffected by the rationing policies, as per the study.

The researchers discovered that those exposed to lower sugar levels during this period had a 35% reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes and a 20% reduced risk of hypertension. Moreover, the onset of these diseases was delayed by four and two years, respectively.

“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,” says Paul Gertler, one of the study’s authors and a professor of economics at the University of California.

The study suggests that even in-utero sugar exposure can have long-lasting health consequences. Limiting sugar intake during pregnancy and early childhood can provide significant protection against future health problems.