Sugar Exposure During the First 1,000 Days of Life Increases the Risk of Anxiety in Adulthood

Sugar exposure during the first 1,000 days of life — from conception to approximately two and a half years of age — may leave a lasting imprint on mental health and increase the risk of developing anxiety years later, according to a new study.

Limiting sugar intake in early childhood was associated with differences in preferences for sweet foods, other psychiatric and mental health outcomes, as well as structural differences in the brain.

“Understanding the full impact that sugar has on our physical and mental health throughout our lives could help shape public health policy and change our diets,” said Hana Navratilova, the study’s lead author.

Researchers from the University of Surrey analyzed medical data from more than 45,000 people born between 1951 and 1956, a period that encompasses postwar sugar rationing in the United Kingdom and the years after restrictions were lifted, Euronews reports.

The UK imposed sugar rationing during the war and postwar years, from 1940 to 1953, limiting consumption for adults to approximately 40 grams per day.

The study, published in the journal Translational Psychiatry, compared participants who experienced rationing in the womb and then through six, 12, 18, and 24 months of age, or only during fetal development, with people who had never experienced rationing.

People who experienced the longest period of rationing had a lower preference for sweet foods and a significantly lower risk of anxiety in adulthood. Their risk of anxiety was 33% lower than among those who had never lived under rationing.

In the groups that experienced rationing, anxiety and depression also developed later. The median age of onset of anxiety disorders was about 62 years in the long-term rationing groups, compared with 55 years in the group that had not experienced rationing.

The researchers note that after rationing was lifted, sugar consumption increased rapidly, but the effects of early restrictions persisted for many years.

“Despite increased sugar consumption among participants after rationing ended, the early dietary environment appears to have long-term significance for mental health,” said Nofar Geifman, a professor at the University of Surrey and the study’s senior author.

The first 1,000 days of life are a critically important window for brain development, and nutrition during this period can cause lasting structural changes in the brain, the authors note.

According to previous studies cited by the authors, diets high in sugar may reduce the density and availability of serotonergic neurons, which play a key role in mood regulation, whereas early restrictions may protect these neural pathways.

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