Lower sugar intake in the first two years of life linked to lower dementia risk later in life

Reducing sugar intake during the earliest stages of life may be associated with a lower risk of dementia decades later, as well as a later disease onset and better markers of brain health in adulthood, according to a new study.

“Limiting sugar during the earliest periods of life may have long-term benefits for brain health,” said study author Jiazhen Zheng of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in Guangzhou, China. “These findings highlight the potential importance of early-life nutrition in reducing dementia risk decades later.”

Researchers analyzed data from nearly 65,000 people born before and after World War II, when the British government introduced nationwide sugar rationing.

The rationing system remained in place during and after the war and was abolished in 1953, according to Euronews. Once the restrictions were lifted, average daily sugar consumption almost doubled, rising from approximately 41 grams to 80 grams.

The researchers divided participants into groups based on how much they had been exposed to sugar rationing: those who experienced rationing before birth and during their first year of life; those exposed from before birth through their first two years; and people born after rationing had ended.

Using medical records collected when participants were around 55 years old, the researchers tracked dementia diagnoses over the following 15 years.

People who had been exposed to sugar rationing before birth and during their first year of life had a 21% lower risk of developing dementia than those born after rationing ended. Among those exposed to rationing from before birth through age two, the risk was 23% lower.

Among participants who eventually developed dementia, those who had experienced lower sugar exposure during early childhood received their diagnosis an average of 2.6 years later than people who had not been exposed to the restrictions.

“Sugar restriction during the first 1,000 days of life was associated with lower dementia risk, later disease onset and more favorable measures of brain health,” the researchers wrote. They added that the findings support the idea that reducing sugar consumption early in life could potentially contribute to lowering dementia risk.

“Reducing added sugar during pregnancy and infancy may be one beneficial measure that families and communities can take,” Zheng said, while emphasizing that further research is needed to determine how early-life sugar exposure may influence dementia risk later in life.

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