Work

The Sweet Life: The Long-Term Effects of a Sugar-Rich Early Childhood

Year: 2022

Type: report

Abstract: We show that sugar-rich diet early in life has large adverse effects on the health and economic well-being of adults more than fifty years later.Excessive sugar intake early in life led to higher prevalence of chronic inflammation, diabetes, elevated cholesterol and arthritis.It also decreased post-secondary schooling, having a skilled occupation, and accumulating above median wealth.We identified elevated sugar consumption across lifespan as a likely pathway of impact.Exploiting the end of the post-WWII rationing of sugar and sweets in 1953 in the United Kingdom, we used a regression discontinuity design to identify these effects.

Source: National Bureau of Economic Research

DOI: 10.3386/w30799

Authors: Paul Gertler, Tadeja Gracner

Institutions: RAND Corporation, National Bureau of Economic Research, University of California, Berkeley

Language: English

Topic: Birth, Development, and Health

Subfield: Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute on Aging