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The greatest protection against the risk of developing heart problems was seen in people whose sugar intake was restricted from conception to around two years of age. 

Evidence suggests that the first 1,000 days of life (from conception to around two years of age) is a period when diet can have lasting health effects and leading health organisations recommend avoiding sugary drinks and ultra-processed foods as babies and toddlers are introduced to solids.

Researchers wanted to examine whether restricting sugar during this time is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular outcomes in adulthood.

Using the end of UK sugar rationing in September 1953 as a natural experiment, they drew on data from 63,433 UK Biobank participants (average age 55 years) born between October 1951 and March 1956 with no history of heart disease. The study included 40,063 participants exposed to sugar rationing and 23,370 who were not.

The results show that longer exposure to sugar rationing was associated with progressively lower cardiovascular risks in adulthood, partly due to reduced risks of diabetes and high blood pressure.

Compared with people never exposed to rationing, those exposed in utero plus one to two years had a 20% reduced risk of CVD, as well as reduced risks of heart attack (25%), heart failure (26%), atrial fibrillation (24%), stroke (31%), and cardiovascular death (27%).

People exposed to rationing in utero and during early life also showed progressively longer delays (up to two and a half years) in the age of onset of cardiovascular outcomes compared with those not exposed to rationing.

Sugar rationing was also associated with small yet meaningful increases in healthy heart function compared with those never rationed. The authors point out that during the rationing period, sugar allowances for everyone, including pregnant women and children were limited to under 40g per day.

This is an observational study so no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect, and the authors acknowledge several limitations including a lack of detailed individual dietary data and potential recall bias that could have affected their results.

The researchers concluded: “Our results underscore the cardiac benefit of early life policies focused on sugar rationing. Further studies should investigate individual level dietary exposures and consider the interplay between genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors to develop more personalised prevention strategies.”