Limitation of sugar consumption: Long term reduction of risk of non-communicable diseases

Content Editor: Dr. Swathi

November 22, 2024 at 3:00:00 PM

Noncommunicable diseases, Lifestyle modifications, Nutrition

A new study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics revealed that limiting sugar intake in the first 1000 days of life can reduce the lifelong risk of developing diabetes and hypertension.
According to the WHO guidelines, the daily intake of free sugars should be less than 10% of the energy intake in adults and children.
However, despite these guidelines, 85% of the children are found to consume sugar more than the recommended levels.
The study was a natural experiment, wherein after the World War 2, for a few months, the UK government rationed food, with a limit of 40g of sugar daily.
After a few years, in 1953, this rationing stopped, leading to a spike in the daily sugar intake from 40g to 80g.
The key findings are as follows:

It was observed that this reduction in the sugar content led to a 35% reduced risk of diabetes and 20% reduced risk of hypertension.
This led to delay in onset of diabetes by 4 years and of hypertension by 2 years.

The study highlights the need for primordial prevention of non-communicable diseases.