A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that limiting sugar intake during a child's first 1,000 days, from conception to age two, could reduce the risk of several cancers and slow biological ageing decades later. Researchers used the natural experiment created by the end of Britain's post-war sugar rationing in September 1953, comparing outcomes for those exposed to rationing in early life with those conceived afterwards, when average daily sugar consumption nearly doubled while other food intake stayed stable.

Analysing data from over 64,000 UK Biobank participants born between 1951 and 1956, the researchers found that greater early-life exposure to sugar rationing was linked to lower rates of liver, rectal, lung, prostate and breast cancers roughly five decades on, alongside longer telomeres (equivalent to about two fewer years of biological ageing) and lower levels of an inflammation-related protein. The authors point to both a lasting biological effect and persistent healthier eating habits as possible explanations. Independent experts called the findings hypothesis-generating but flagged limitations, including small case numbers for individual cancers and potential biases in 1950s data collection.