The sugar you ate as a baby may be affecting your health now, study finds

( NewsNation ) — A new study has revealed that the amount of sugar consumed during the first two years of life can have lifelong effects.

The study, published in PNAS in early August, focused on a group of 64,761 people born in Britain between 1951 and 1956. At the time, sugar and other common foods were rationed to prevent food shortages following World War II.

Using data from the UK Biobank study , researchers compared health outcomes among adults who spent their first 1,000 days under sugar restrictions with those of people born after the restrictions were lifted.

The first 1,000 days refers to the period from conception until a child’s second birthday. While relatively brief, it is a critical stage in a child’s development.

Food preferences and tastes also begin to form during this period, meaning a person’s early food environment can have lasting effects on health later in life.

What cancer risks were linked to early sugar rationing?

Researchers found that adults who spent their first 1,000 days under sugar rations were less likely to develop certain cancers than those who weren’t exposed to the restrictions.

52 percent lower risk of prostate cancer

People who were exposed to sugar rationing during their first 1,000 days were also found to age more slowly at the biological level.

Researchers measured telomeres, the protective caps on chromosomes that have been linked to longevity and found that those exposed to sugar rationing had longer telomeres than those who were not. They estimated the difference was associated with a life expectancy increase of slightly more than two years.

Researchers also found that those exposed to sugar rationing in early life consumed less sugar, ate smaller portions and maintained healthier, more diverse diets more than 50 years later.

This is not the first time researchers have used data from Britain’s wartime sugar rationing in health studies.

Another recent study found that people exposed to sugar rationing during their first 1,000 days were significantly less likely to develop anxiety and depression in adulthood.

Previous studies using the same data found lower risks of chronic disease, reduced odds of developing Alzheimer’s disease and better cardiovascular health among those exposed to sugar rationing early in life.

While the findings showed notable differences between the two groups, researchers cautioned that the study was observational and does not prove that limiting sugar early in life directly causes better health outcomes.