Exposure to sugar rationing in the first 1000 days of life protected against chronic disease

We examined the impact of exposure to sugar restrictions within 1000 days after conception on type 2 diabetes and hypertension, leveraging quasi-experimental variation from the end of the United Kingdom's sugar rationing in September 1953. Rationing restricted sugar intake to levels within curr...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2024-11, Vol.386 (6725), p.1043-1048
Main Authors: Gracner, Tadeja, Boone, Claire, Gertler, Paul J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Chronic Disease - epidemiology
Chronic Disease - ethnology
Chronic Disease - prevention & control
Diabetes mellitus (non-insulin dependent)
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - epidemiology
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - etiology
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - prevention & control
Dietary Sugars - administration & dosage
Dietary Sugars - adverse effects
Female
Food consumption
Food groups
Food Insecurity
Humans
Hypertension
Hypertension - epidemiology
Hypertension - etiology
Hypertension - prevention & control
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Male
Pregnancy
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - epidemiology
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - etiology
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - prevention & control
Sugar
United Kingdom
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We examined the impact of exposure to sugar restrictions within 1000 days after conception on type 2 diabetes and hypertension, leveraging quasi-experimental variation from the end of the United Kingdom's sugar rationing in September 1953. Rationing restricted sugar intake to levels within current dietary guidelines, and consumption nearly doubled immediately after rationing ended. Using an event study design with UK Biobank data comparing adults conceived just before or after rationing ended, we found that early-life rationing reduced type 2 diabetes and hypertension risk by about 35 and 20% and delayed disease onset by 4 and 2 years, respectively. Protection was evident with in utero exposure and increased with postnatal sugar restriction, especially after 6 months, when eating of solid foods likely began. In utero sugar rationing alone accounted for about one-third of the risk reduction.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.adn5421