The holiday season is nearly upon us and it’s easy for a child’s sweet tooth go wild. However, new research shows that it may be beneficial to cut back how much sugar young children consume.
A study published Friday in the journal Science found that reducing sugar in the first 1,000 days after conception – through gestation up to age 2 – may cut a child’s risk of chronic illnesses in adulthood.
The researchers found that reducing sugar consumption in this window decreased the type 2 diabetes risk by about 35% and the risk of high blood pressure by roughly 20%. They also found a delay in disease onset of four and two years, respectively.
The research team looked at data from before and after the end of the United Kingdom’s World War II-era sugar rationing in September 1953.
In January 1940, the U.K. began rationingto allow …