{
  "id": 11254584,
  "title": "Early-life sugar restriction tied to better mental health in adulthood",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/01/early-life-sugar-restriction-tied-to-better-mental-health-in-adulthood",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-10-01T18:00:50.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "PsyPost",
    "slug": "psypost",
    "url": "https://www.psypost.org/early-life-sugar-restriction-tied-to-better-mental-health-in-adulthood/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A new research study has found that people exposed to sugar rationing during the first 1,000 days of their lives, from conception through their second birthday, appear to have a lower risk of developing anxiety and depression in adulthood. This finding suggests that early-life nutritional environments may significantly impact mental health. The research, published in Translational Psychiatry, was conducted by Hana F. Navratilova and Nophar Geifman at the University of Surrey. The study focused on the critical developmental window of the first 1,000 days of life, a period marked by rapid physical and brain growth. Nutrition during this time is crucial for laying the groundwork for lifelong health and disease susceptibility. The researchers turned to the historical event of post-war British sugar rationing to explore the long-term effects of sugar intake during this sensitive period. Strict food rationing, including severe limits on sugar, was implemented in the United Kingdom during and after World War II and ended in September 1953. This created a natural experiment where people born before 1953 spent some or all of their first 1,000 days under rationing, while those conceived afterward grew up with abundant sugar access. Previous studies have linked early-life sugar restriction to a lower risk of dementia in older age and a reduced risk of asthma and lung conditions in adulthood. The current study analyzed data from over 500,000 UK Biobank volunteers, specifically looking at the mental health outcomes of those exposed to early-life sugar rationing. Participants were born between October 1951 and March 1956 and divided into groups based on their exposure to the rationing period. Those with the longest exposure to rationing had a 33% lower relative risk of anxiety and a 29% lower relative risk of depression compared to those who were never rationed or rationed for shorter periods. This study, driven by Geifman's interest in the effects of diet on mental health, provides strong evidence that early-life nutritional conditions, such as sugar restriction, can have lasting effects on mental health in adulthood.",
  "summary": "A recent study using the end of post-war UK food rationing suggests that restricting sugar from conception to age two is linked to a significantly lower risk of developing anxiety and depression in adulthood.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}