Source: Djordje Krstic / Getty
Cutting back on sugar consumption in children may benefit them in the long run. New research published in the Science journal found reducing sugar during the first 1,000 days after conception, through gestation up to age 2, could cut a child’s risk of chronic illnesses when they grow up.
Researchers found reducing sugar consumption in that window decreased type 2 diabetes risk by about 35% and cut the risk of high blood pressure by around 20%. The scientists analyzed data from before and after the end of the United Kingdom’s World War II-era sugar rationing in September 1953.
According to the Imperial War Museums, the UK began rationing in January 1940 so access to sugary foods was limited. When this ended in the fall of 1953, the average adult’s daily sugar consumption in the UK nearly doubled from about 40 grams to 80 grams.
“Sugar rationing created an interesting natural experiment,” Tadeja Gracner, the lead author of the study and a senior economist at the Center for Economics and Social Research at the University of Southern California, told CNN.
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An analysis of a six-year period showed a 30% decrease in obesity risk for babies conceived or born during rationing. There was a faster increase in type 2 diabetes and hypertension in those after the sugar ration ended.
“When you consume more sugar, it changes the way your metabolism works, and you start depositing and saving it,” said Dr. Mark Corkins, the division chief of pediatric gastroenterology and professor of pediatrics at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, who was not involved with the research. “We’re designed to save food for periods of famine. We don’t have periods of famine anymore, so now we store it as fat.”
According to the federal Dietary Guidelines for Americans, anyone 2 years old or older should limit their daily intake of added sugar to less than 10% of their total calories.
Corkins suggests one way for parents to reduce sugar consumption in young children is to change their own habits.
“The number one influence is parents,” he said. “They see what their parents eat, and kids tend to eat like their parents. If you want your child to have better habits, then you need to model those habits.”
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