Consuming less sugar during pregnancy and the first one to two years of life may lower the risk of developing dementia decades later, according to a study published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Researchers analyzed data from 64,737 people born before and after World War II sugar rationing in the United Kingdom. During and after the war, sugar was strictly rationed before becoming widely available again in 1953, creating a natural opportunity to study the long-term effects of early-life sugar exposure.
Participants were grouped based on whether they experienced sugar rationing before birth and during their first year of life, before birth and up to two years of age, or were born after rationing ended.
Starting at an average age of 55 years, researchers tracked dementia diagnoses through medical records for up to 15 years.
Among those exposed to sugar rationing before birth and during their first year, 388 of 15,025 participants developed dementia. Among those exposed through their first two years, 456 of 15,256 developed dementia, compared with 504 of 23,774 people born after sugar rationing ended.
After accounting for factors such as age, sex, high blood pressure, and diabetes, researchers found that people exposed to lower sugar levels before birth and during their first year had a 21% lower risk of dementia. Those with lower sugar exposure through the first two years had a 23% lower risk.
The study also found that dementia developed an average of 2.6 years later among people with lower early-life sugar exposure.
Brain scans available for a smaller group of participants showed that those with lower sugar intake early in life had greater gray matter volume and fewer white matter hyperintensities, a marker of brain tissue damage.
Researchers noted that the study shows an association rather than proving that lower sugar intake directly prevents dementia. They say further research is needed to understand how early-life nutrition influences long-term brain health.
REFERENCE: Zheng, J., et al. (2026). Association of Sugar Restriction in Utero Through Age 2 Years on Dementia Risk Later in Life. Neurology. DOI: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000218313.
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