Sugar in the First 1,000 Days Risks Future Health

Amy Stanton
2 days ago
4 min read

Jonny Rogers reports on research linking early-life sugar intake to long-term health, highlighting obesity risk, historical dietary patterns, and global infant-nutrition disparities.

Photo by: Behnam Norouzi

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A study from the University of Southern California has found that sugar consumption in the first 1,000 days of a baby’s life could be a significant contributing factor to obesity in later life.

With 1 in 4 British adults and 1 in 5 children aged 10-11 are living with obesity, the UK government has acknowledged obesity as “one of the greatest long-term health challenges this country faces”—as well as costing the NHS £11.4 billion a year.

The origins of sugar

A plant first cultivated by the indigenous people of Papua New Guinea over 10,000 years ago has since passed through every continent, influencing and reshaping diets and economies alike: sugarcane.

While sugars are found in all fruit, vegetables, and dairy foods, sugarcane contains a high level of sucrose. With a distinctively sweet juice, originally consumed straight from the stalk, methods of crystallising the sugar were refined in India around 2,000 years ago, allowing the extract to be added to other foods and medicines. It was this process that changed food agriculture and production.

Today, not only is sugar added to products marketed as sweet desserts and snacks, but also cereals, breads, yogurts, condiments, milk, and alcoholic beverages.

Did you know? sugar consumption in the first 1,000 days of a baby’s life could be a significant contributing factor to obesity in later life.

From rations to research

During World War II, Germany attacked UK-bound ships carrying food and resources in an attempt to starve the nation, which depended on international imports for many products.

In response, in 1940 the British government began to implement a nationwide ration for basic ingredients and foods, such as sugar, meat, cheese, milk, eggs, and cereals.

Food rationing continued for almost a decade after the end of the war while the economy recovered, with sugar rations only ending in 1953. This provided an unintentional ‘natural’ experiment.

In 2024, using data from UK Biobank, researchers studied the long-term health of over 60,000 British citizens born in the years preceding and succeeding the lift of this ration, and their findings have exposed the hidden long-term impact of sugar consumption on infants.

It was discovered that sugar rationing cut the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 35% and high blood pressure by 20%; and there was almost 30% reduction in the risk of obesity among the sugar-rationed babies. In addition, while diabetes and obesity are risk factors later in life for all individuals, the risk of type-2 diabetes increased faster for those who had not lived through the sugar ration.

As one of the contributors, Tadeja Gracner, explains , the consumption of sugar at a young age might affect the body’s metabolism throughout life, as well as establishing a preference for sweet foods: “Maternal diets high in sugar have been linked to a higher risk of obesity and metabolic disorders in children, possibly through factors like fetal programming."

What are free sugars?

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that people do not depend on free sugars for more than 10% of their total energy intake, further recommending a reduction to less than 5%.

‘Free sugars’ are those added to foods and beverages in the process of manufacturing, cooking, or preparation, as well as those naturally present in honey, syrups, and fruit juices. They are ‘free’ because they are not contained within the cells of the foods, having been released through the process of manufacturing; while these sugars provide high levels of energy, as ‘nonessential nutrients’ they do not provide any other nutritional benefits.

Higher risk for lower-income countries

However, WHO guidelines are not binding, and neither are they respected equally across the world. In 2024, an investigation by the Swiss-based NGO Public Eye found that Nestlé, the world’s largest food and drink manufacturer, is adding sugar and honey to baby foods in lower-income countries.

One cereal sold in Senegal and South Africa was found to contain 6g of added sugar, where the same product sold in Switzerland contained none; products sold in India contained 2.7g of added sugar, on average, more than its Swiss counterparts. Even within the UK, it has been discovered children living in the most deprived areas were more than twice likely to experience obesity than children in the wealthiest areas.

“Maternal diets high in sugar have been linked to a higher risk of obesity and metabolic disorders in children, possibly through factors like fetal programming."

The rise of obesity

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) – including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases – are the world’s leading cause of death, accounting for 74% of all mortalities. While NCDs might develop for a variety of reasons, unhealthy and high-sugar diets are significant behavioural risk factors, contributing to diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular diseases.

Inequality in the application of sugar consumption guidelines for infant food products, as well as the inaccessibility of cheap and healthier alternatives, is harming public wellbeing and costing millions of lives.

Turning the Tide on Sugar

While the UK still has a long way to go to improve its public health, recent years have seen some progress: 2018 saw the implementation of a ‘Sugar Tax’, through which soft drink manufacturers were incentivised to reduce the sugar content of their drinks.

Following WHO guidelines, the NHS also suggests that children aged 2-3 should consume no more than 14g of free sugars each day, children aged 1-2 should consume no more than 10g, and that sugar should not be added to any food or drink consumed in the first year of life.

The government have recently argued that reducing daily intake by just 50 calories could bring 340,000 children and 2 million adults out of obesity, promising to prioritise healthy food in line with their 10 Year Health Plan. As Labour’s Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, says: “This government’s ambition for kids today is for them to be part of the healthiest generation of children ever. That is within our grasp. With the smart steps we’re taking today, we can give every child a healthy start to life.”