Another study underscores a prominent dietary guideline which shows that limiting sugar intake during the first two years of life can protect brain health decades later.
The latest research, conducted by a team from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, examined the impact of the end of the UK government's post-World War II sugar rationing policy, which led to a sharp increase in sugar consumption across the population.
The findings, highlighted in a recent BBC article, suggest that people who experienced sugar rationing during their first two years of life had a 23% lower risk of developing dementia later in life.
The study adds to a growing body of evidence highlighting the importance of the first 1,000 days of life in shaping long-term health outcomes.
Researchers have increasingly used the UK's post-war recovery and the end of food rationing as a "natural experiment" to examine how early-life nutrition affects health in adulthood.
When sugar rationing ended in September 1953, average daily sugar consumption in the UK nearly doubled, rising from around 41 grams—equivalent to about 10 sugar cubes—to 80 grams, or roughly 20 sugar cubes.
Previous studies have linked this abrupt increase in sugar intake to a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes and elevated blood pressure later in life.
For the latest study, researchers analysed data from nearly 65,000 participants in the UK Biobank project, comparing individuals born before and after the end of sugar rationing.
Their analysis found that exposure to sugar rationing during the first two years of life was associated with a 23% lower risk of dementia, while those who eventually developed the disease were diagnosed, on average, two and a half years later.
"Our findings suggest that limiting sugar during the earliest stages of life may have lasting benefits for brain health," said researcher Jiazhen Zheng.
The findings were published in the journal Neurology.
By Nazrin Sadigova
