Limiting the sugar intake of a baby in the first two years could cut their risk of having type 2 diabetes by up to 35%, a new study found.
The research, published in the journal Science, reviewed the health data of 38,155 people who were conceived during the United Kingdom’s sugar rationing during World War II, and 22,028 who were conceived by the end of the rationing in 1953.
By examining the effects of sugar exposure on diabetes and hypertension during the first 1,000 days of the children, the researchers found that "early-life rationing reduced diabetes and hypertension risk by about 35% and 20%."
The data collected from the UK Biobank also showed a delay in disease onset by four and two years.
Moreover, sugar restriction on the mother while the baby was still in the womb impacted the child's chronic disease risks, reducing these by at least one-third.
In 1940, during World War II, the British government rolled out food rationing to ensure a fair share of supplies to the population. Basic foods like sugar and meat were rationed through a couponing system, the Imperial War Museum explained.
Interestingly, as the war rationing ended, the consumption of sugar quickly doubled.
"Although we know...sugar influences diabetes risk, to have a natural experiment like this wherein you have a whole population under a restriction, followed by a dramatic change and in turn a big impact on diabetes and hypertension, I think is pretty profound," Edward Gregg, an epidemiologist from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, told Science.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 38 million Americans have diabetes, and up to 95% have type 2 diabetes. More and more children are also developing the disease.
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