Limiting sugar before age two linked to better brain health - BBC

What the report says

BBC News reports that a new observational study has linked very low sugar intake in the first two years of life with better brain health many decades later, though researchers and independent experts cautioned that the findings do not prove cause and effect. The work examined the UK’s post-Second World War food rationing system, focusing on the sharp rise in sugar consumption after rationing ended in September 1953.

According to the BBC, the study used data from nearly 65,000 participants in the UK Biobank and compared people born around the period when sugar restrictions were lifted. Researchers from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology found that those who had lived under rationing up to age two had a 23% lower risk of dementia and, when diagnosed, developed the condition about two and a half years later. The findings were published in the journal Neurology.

The study fits into broader research on the importance of the first 1,000 days of life for long-term health. Earlier work using the same “natural experiment” of wartime and postwar rationing has linked early sugar exposure with later risks such as type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. The BBC noted that average sugar intake in the UK was estimated to nearly double immediately after rationing ended.

Several experts urged caution. Rachel Richardson of Cochrane said the work may point to a real association but is not definitive, partly because researchers cannot know individual sugar intake. Prof Ian Maidment of Aston University said many other factors across 80 years could be involved. Alzheimer’s Research UK also stressed that a balanced diet supports brain health, but this study cannot show that limiting sugar directly prevents dementia.