Babies born under sugar rationing grew into adults with lower cancer risk

在糖配给制度下出生的婴儿，成年后患癌风险更低

Could how much sugar you consumed before your second birthday shape your health decades later – even into your 70s? A new study that my colleagues and I conducted suggests the answer could be yes. People who had less sugar exposure during the first few years of life were much less likely to develop several different cancers later in life, and they also showed signs of slower biological ageing. We also found that even in adulthood, they continued to consume less sugar and had healthier diets overall. 你在两岁之前摄入的糖分量，是否会影响你几十年后（甚至 70 多岁时）的健康状况？我和同事进行的一项新研究表明，答案可能是肯定的。在生命最初几年接触糖分较少的人，在日后患上多种癌症的可能性要低得多，而且他们还表现出生物学衰老速度较慢的迹象。我们还发现，即使在成年后，他们依然保持着较低的糖分摄入量，整体饮食也更健康。

This is not an easy question to study in real life. Researchers obviously can’t run that experiment on real babies – split them into groups, feed one group sugar, then wait 70 years to see what happens. Britain’s postwar sugar rationing offered a rare alternative. After the second world war, sugar remained rationed in Britain for several years. But in September 1953, rationing ended and people started eating a lot more sugar. Consumption nearly doubled. This meant that children born just a few months apart had very different levels of sugar exposure both in the womb and during early childhood. 在现实生活中，这是一个很难研究的问题。研究人员显然无法在真正的婴儿身上进行这种实验——将他们分成几组，给一组喂糖，然后等待 70 年观察结果。英国战后的糖配给制度提供了一个罕见的替代方案。二战后，英国对糖的配给持续了几年。但在 1953 年 9 月，配给制度结束，人们开始摄入更多的糖，消费量几乎翻了一番。这意味着仅相差几个月出生的孩子，在胎儿期和幼儿期接触糖分的水平截然不同。

For our study, we used data from over 64,000 people born in Britain between 1951 and 1956. Those born earlier spent a larger share of their first 1,000 days under sugar rationing, while those born later experienced progressively less of it. By the first 1,000 days, we mean the period from conception to a child’s second birthday. This is a critical stage because the body is developing very rapidly. Organs are growing, metabolism is taking shape, and the immune system is maturing. Food and taste preferences also begin to form during this period. Although 1,000 days is a relatively short period, the effects of the food environment during this stage can last throughout a person’s life. 为了进行研究，我们使用了 1951 年至 1956 年间在英国出生的 64,000 多人的数据。出生较早的人在生命最初的 1,000 天里处于糖配给制度下的时间更长，而出生较晚的人经历的配给时间则逐渐减少。我们所说的“最初 1,000 天”是指从受孕到孩子两岁生日这一时期。这是一个关键阶段，因为身体正在迅速发育。器官在生长，新陈代谢在形成，免疫系统也在成熟。食物和口味偏好也在此期间开始形成。尽管 1,000 天是一个相对较短的时期，但这一阶段饮食环境的影响可能会持续一个人的一生。

To track cancer cases, we used the UK Biobank – a huge health database that follows participants for decades and records, among other things, who develops cancer and when. We found that people who experienced longer periods of sugar rationing during their first 1,000 days had a lower incidence of five types of cancer: breast, prostate, liver, rectal and lung cancer. The effect was strongest for liver cancer, where rates were around 69% lower, and weakest – though still substantial – for breast cancer, at 36% lower. Importantly, these differences only began to appear decades after sugar rationing had ended. 为了追踪癌症病例，我们使用了英国生物样本库（UK Biobank）——这是一个庞大的健康数据库，对参与者进行了数十年的跟踪，记录了包括谁在何时患上癌症等信息。我们发现，在最初 1,000 天里经历过更长糖配给期的人，患五种癌症（乳腺癌、前列腺癌、肝癌、直肠癌和肺癌）的几率较低。这种影响在肝癌中最为显著，发病率降低了约 69%；在乳腺癌中影响最弱，但也相当可观，降低了 36%。重要的是，这些差异直到糖配给制度结束几十年后才开始显现。

We also found that exposure to sugar rationing is related to biological ageing. Biological age is not the same as chronological age. Two people may both be 70 years old, while their cells and immune systems show different levels of ageing. One way we measure biological ageing is through telomere length. Telomeres are protective structures located at the ends of chromosomes. As cells age, telomeres usually become shorter. We found that people who experienced longer periods of sugar rationing during their first 1,000 days had longer telomeres. Based on our estimates, this difference is equivalent to about 2.2 years of slower biological ageing. We also found lower levels of a protein called granzyme B, which rises when the immune system has been working overtime for years – another sign of slower ageing at a cellular level. Taken together, these results suggest that lower sugar exposure early in life may be related to slower ageing at the cellular level. 我们还发现，接触糖配给制度与生物学衰老有关。生物学年龄不等同于实际年龄。两个同样 70 岁的人，其细胞和免疫系统的衰老程度可能不同。我们衡量生物学衰老的一种方法是通过端粒长度。端粒是位于染色体末端的保护结构。随着细胞衰老，端粒通常会变短。我们发现，在最初 1,000 天里经历过更长糖配给期的人，其端粒更长。根据我们的估算，这种差异相当于生物学衰老速度减慢了约 2.2 年。我们还发现一种名为“颗粒酶 B”（granzyme B）的蛋白质水平较低，该蛋白在免疫系统多年超负荷工作时会升高——这是细胞层面衰老减慢的另一个迹象。综上所述，这些结果表明，生命早期较低的糖分摄入可能与细胞层面的衰老减慢有关。

The sugar habit that lasted 50 years

持续 50 年的糖分习惯

What is most surprising, however, is not the cancer results or the biological markers of ageing. It’s how early-life sugar exposure continued to affect people’s diets even 50 years later. We found that people who experienced sugar rationing early in life still consumed less sugar in adulthood, around age 50. They also ate less overall, and their diets were healthier and more diverse. This suggests that the level of sweetness people are exposed to very early in life may shape their taste preferences for a long time. 然而，最令人惊讶的不是癌症结果或生物学衰老标志，而是生命早期的糖分接触如何影响了人们 50 年后的饮食习惯。我们发现，那些在生命早期经历过糖配给的人，在 50 岁左右的成年期依然摄入较少的糖。他们的总进食量也较少，饮食更健康、更多样化。这表明，人们在生命极早期接触到的甜度水平，可能会长期塑造他们的口味偏好。

There appear to be two mechanisms at work. One is biological – early nutrition may shape how the metabolism, organs and immune system develop. The other is behavioural – a taste for less sweetness, formed early, seems to stick. Other research using the end of Britain’s sugar rationing has also found that people who experienced more sugar rationing early in life had lower risks of type 2 diabetes and hypertension. A recent study using the same end of Britain’s sugar rationing found lower risks of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, while another study reported lower risks of heart disease and stroke. 这背后似乎有两种机制在起作用。一种是生物学机制——早期营养可能会塑造新陈代谢、器官和免疫系统的发育方式。另一种是行为机制——早期形成的对低甜度的偏好似乎会持续下去。其他利用英国糖配给制度结束这一背景的研究也发现，在生命早期经历过更多糖配给的人，患 2 型糖尿病和高血压的风险较低。最近一项利用同样背景的研究发现，这些人患痴呆症和阿尔茨海默病的风险较低，而另一项研究则报告称其患心脏病和中风的风险也较低。

This does not mean that children should not eat sugar at all, and it certainly does not mean that postwar sugar rationing is a desirable policy. What this historical evidence shows is that, during a critical period of development, even relatively small differences in sugar exposure over a short period may leave effects that are still observable half a century later. Children may not remember what they ate before age two. But their later health, their bodies and even their taste preferences may still carry the imprint of those very early-life experiences. 这并不意味着孩子完全不能吃糖，当然也不意味着战后的糖配给制度是一项理想的政策。这些历史证据表明，在发育的关键时期，即使在短时间内糖分摄入量存在相对较小的差异，也可能留下半个世纪后仍可观察到的影响。孩子们可能不记得两岁前吃过什么，但他们后来的健康状况、身体状况，甚至口味偏好，可能仍然带有那些极早期生活经历的印记。