Recent studies of scientists at the University of Southern California have found that restriction of sugar consumption during pregnancy and in the first two years of life of a child can significantly reduce the likelihood of developing chronic diseases in adulthood. This study emphasizes the long -term impact of nutrition in the early stages of life.
The study, published in Science, showed that children who consumed less sugar within the first 1000 days after conception had 35% less risk of developing type 2 diabetes and 20% lower risk of hypertension. This indicates that the restriction of sugar consumption during pregnancy brings significant health benefits.
The study was based on the unique data obtained during the Second World War in the UK, when sugar was introduced. This "natural experiment" allowed the researchers to compare the health of people born before and after the period of ration, which lasted from 1942 to 1953. On average, sugar consumption during normalization was about 8 teaspoons a day, but after its cancellation, this amount has doubled.
The leading author of the study Thaddeus Gracner noted that it is difficult to evaluate the effect of sugar due to difficulties in tracking nutrition for decades. However, the results of this study clearly show that limited consumption of sugar at an early age not only reduces the risk of disease, but also delays their manifestation for several years.
These conclusions are consistent with modern recommendations that propose to minimize or avoid added sugars for children under two years of age. In addition, researchers emphasized the economic benefits of such strategies, because only treatment of diabetes in the United States costs about $ 12,000 a year per person. The introduction of prevention measures in the early stages of life can save billions of dollars in health care and increase life expectancy.
