Young children who have been deprived of sugar during their womb life and the first two years after birth have a significantly lower risk of developing diabetes and hypertension as adults. It was by comparing children born during the rationing imposed at the end of the Second World War to other children born after the lifting of this food restriction measure, particularly in sugar, that researchers arrived at this conclusion. Their study, which is published in the journal Scienceclearly highlights the harmful long-term effects of sugar consumption early in life.
During rationing, which lasted a decade in the United Kingdom, pregnant women and children were entitled to sugar rations comparable to the servings recommended today by the World Health Organization (WHO) and corresponding to approximately 40 grams per day for adults, 15 g for children and no sugar for toddlers under 2 years old. However, as soon as sugar rationing ended in September 1953, consumption of this food increased sharply, doubling in the space of a few months. Researchers saw in this event marked by a radical change in the situation a unique opportunity to study, in a natural and real context, the effects of sugar consumption at a young age on health later in life. To do this, the researchers accessed data from the UK Biobank, which brings together health information on half a million people.
They were thus able to compare adults now aged 51 to 66, who were conceived during the 1000 days preceding the end of rationing, i.e. before September 1953, to other adults, whose conception took place in the months following the end of rationing. They then found that those who had been exposed to a very low sugar intake during their uterine life as well as during the two years following their birth had a 35% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes and a 20% lower risk of suffering from diabetes. hypertension in adulthood compared to individuals conceived after rationing had been lifted. And in people who had nevertheless developed these diseases, the sugar restriction they had undergone had postponed the onset of their diabetes by four years and that of their hypertension by two years.
The researchers also noted that if the sugar restriction had only been present during life in utero, it was still protective and helped explain a third of the maximum observed reduction in the risk of the two diseases and the quarter of the delay in the appearance of these pathologies. However, the reduction in risk increased particularly when sugar rationing persisted beyond six months after birth, a time which often coincides with the introduction of solid foods, specify the authors of the study. This reduction reached the maximum value in children who had only started receiving foods other than breast milk around the age of 2, as recommended by the WHO, adds article co-author Claire Boone in an interview. , who is a professor in the departments of economics and equity, ethics and policy at McGill University.
To explain how sugar added to the diet during gestation and early in life in children compromises health in adulthood, the authors of the article report on animal studies that have shown that “diets high in sugar during pregnancy increase risk factors for diabetes and hypertension, such as insulin resistance and glucose intolerance, during adult life. They also recall that “studies in humans seem to show an association between a diet high in sugar during pregnancy and breastfeeding and an increased risk of obesity in the unborn child”. Another explanation: “exposure to sugar early in life can harm health by intensifying a preference for sweet taste that will last. Early life and early childhood in particular are critical periods when a taste for sweets develops. [ou même une dépendance]which can contribute to high sugar consumption throughout life,” the researchers suggest.
“Significant benefits”
This study clearly shows that “adhering to WHO recommendations [qui correspondent à ce qu’ont subi les bébés durant le rationnement] early in a child’s life will provide important benefits for their future health,” the researchers conclude.
“Our study shows that it is a good idea to reduce added sugar consumption during pregnancy and the child’s first years of life. But we recognize that it is very difficult to do this, because there is sugar everywhere, including in infant formula, solid foods for children and adults. It is therefore important to read the list of ingredients of the foods we buy, particularly foods for babies and children, as well as the nutritional value of these foods, which tells us both about the amount of added sugar contained in the food. “food and the percentage of the recommended daily value that it represents”, observes Mme Boone.
While it is recommended that the diet of children under 2 years old be free of all added sugar, “there are no regulations limiting the addition of sugar to foods in Canada. And no guidelines urging manufacturers in particular not to add sugar to infant foods,” laments the researcher, who defines herself as a health economist, just like the two other signatories of the article.
The study’s first author, Tadeja Gračner of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, also studies sugar taxes that have been introduced in parts of the United States and Mexico. “Berkeley, California, for example, passed a higher tax on sweets, as well as sugar-sweetened beverages, such as soft drinks, fruit juices and vitamin waters. Studies have shown that these taxes slightly reduce the consumption of these drinks,” says Claire Boone, who sees it as “an interesting strategy to consider in Canada if we set ourselves the objective of reducing the consumption of sugar and sugary drinks. “. “But I don’t think governments have that ambition at the moment,” she says.
The researchers are continuing their study, now focusing on cancer risk and the risk of inflammation, which is a precursor to many chronic diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, that we develop in adulthood.
