The latest research in the British magazine BMJ points out that limiting sugar intake in early childhood has a significant effect on reducing the lifelong risk of cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease. The study used the end of post-war sugar rationing in Britain in 1953 as a "natural experiment" and analyzed the long-term health effects of this policy on tens of thousands of people.
The research team used the data of more than 63,000 participants in the British Biobank with an average age of 55 to screen for people born between October 1951 and March 1956 who had no history of heart disease. About 40,000 of them have experienced the sugar restriction period, while another 23,000 have not been affected. The researchers compared and analyzed the incidence of cardiovascular diseases (including heart disease, heart failure, arrhythmia, stroke and cardiovascular death) among these groups, and adjusted for related risk factors such as diabetes and hypertension. In addition, to enhance the reliability of the results, the study also used non-British-born people who had not experienced the sugar rationing policy as an external control group.
The results showed that the longer the sugar rationing policy, the lower the risk of cardiovascular disease in adulthood. This effect is partly attributable to the reduced risk of diabetes and hypertension associated with sugar restriction. Compared with those who were never restricted, those who were rationed during pregnancy and 1 to 2 years after birth had a 20% lower risk of cardiovascular disease in adulthood; a 25% lower risk of heart attack; a 26% lower risk of heart failure; a 24% lower risk of arrhythmia; a 31% lower risk of stroke; and a 27% lower risk of cardiovascular death. In addition, early sugar restriction can significantly delay the onset of these diseases by up to 2 and a half years, and bring about a certain degree of improvement in heart health.
The study pointed out that at that time, everyone - including pregnant women and children - should not consume more than 40 grams of sugar per day, and infants under 2 years old were prohibited from adding additional sugar, which is basically consistent with current dietary health recommendations. The researchers also admitted that as an observational study, the influence of other factors, such as personal eating habits and retrospective bias, cannot be completely ruled out. However, the large-scale design of this study facilitates a detailed analysis of the long-term effects of sugar intake on heart health at different stages in the early stages, and suggests that further research on individualized dietary exposure and the interaction of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors is needed in the future.
In summary, the authors emphasize that sugar restriction policies for pregnant women and infants have a lasting and significant protective effect on reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease in adulthood.
Compiled from /ScitechDaily