On Nov. 1, 2024, researchers reported results from a study that show a low-sugar diet during pregnancy and in the first two years of life can meaningfully reduce the risk of chronic diseases in adulthood, providing compelling new evidence of the lifelong health effects of exposure to sugar restrictions early in life.

The team from the University of Southern California Dornsife, University of California Berkeley and McGill University used a “natural experiment” from World War II to analyze how sugar rationing influences long-term health. The United Kingdom introduced limits on sugar distribution in 1942 as part of its wartime food rationing program. Rationing ended in September 1953.

The researchers used contemporary data from the U.K. Biobank, a database of medical histories and genetic, lifestyle and other disease risk factors, to study the effect of those early-life sugar restrictions on health outcomes of adults conceived in the U.K. just before and after the end of wartime sugar rationing.

The study found that children who were in the womb or born during times of sugar restrictions during their first 1,000 days after conception had up to 35% lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and as much as 20% less risk of high blood pressure (hypertension) as adults. Exposure to limited sugar before birth was enough to lower risks, but continued sugar restriction after birth increased the benefits. The study was published in Science.