Diabetes risk soars for adults who had a sweet tooth as kids
Study of 1950s sugar rationing in the United Kingdom also suggests risk to babies whose mums ate a high-sugar diet during pregnancy. Candy-floss effect: a childhood diet rich in sugar has been linked to higher risk of high-blood pressure and other conditions in adulthood. Credit: Getty It’s tough news to hear on Halloween: a sugary diet in the first two years of life is linked to a higher risk of diabetes and high blood pressure decades later, according to an analysis of UK sugar rationing in the 1950s. The amount of sugar a child consumed after turning six months old seemed to have the biggest effect on the risk of developing a chronic disease later in life. But people exposed to more sugar in the womb also had a higher risk of diabetes and high blood pressure compared to those who were conceived when access to sugar was limited. Economist Tadeja Gračner was pregnant with her first child and on doctor-ordered bed rest when she and her colleagues first arrived at these conclusions,