Restricting sugar before birth and in early childhood greatly reduces risk of chronic disease later in life
Researchers at USC Dornsife, UC Berkeley and McGill University take advantage of a “natural experiment” from World War II to analyze how sugar rationing influences long-term health.
By USC Dornsife News Staff November 1, 2024

A low-sugar diet during pregnancy and in the first two years of life can meaningfully reduce the risk of chronic diseases in adulthood, a new study has found, providing compelling new evidence of the lifelong health effects of exposure to sugar restrictions early in life.

Published in Science, the study finds that children who were in the womb or born during times of 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 high blood pressure (hypertension) as adults. Exposure to limited sugar before birth was enough to lower risks, but continued sugar restriction after birth increased the benefits.

World War II sugar rationing poses a natural experiment
Taking advantage of an unintended “natural experiment” from World War II, researchers at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, in collaboration with McGill University in Montreal, and the University of California, Berkeley, examined how sugar rationing during the war influenced long-term health outcomes.

The United Kingdom introduced limits on sugar distribution in 1942 as part of its wartime food rationing program. Rationing ended in September 1953.

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