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 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.