Sugar restriction during the first 1000 days after conception and its association with decreased risk of anxiety and...

Depression and anxiety pose a major challenge to global public mental health, and early life exposures are known to exert substantial long-term effects. However, evidence on the long-term effect of sugar restriction during the first 1000 days after conception on mental health remains limited, and it is still unclear whether such restriction reduces the subsequent risk of anxiety and depression in later life.

To examine whether sugar restriction during the first 1000 days after conception is associated with a reduced risk of anxiety and depression in later life, compared with no sugar restriction.

We leveraged a natural experiment created by the cessation of the United Kingdom's sugar rationing policy in September 1953, under which sugar intake prior to abolition was constrained to modern recommended levels before abruptly doubling after rationing ended. Using data from the UK Biobank (n = 66 223), we compared individuals conceived just before and after the end of rationing to isolate the effect of early life sugar restriction on anxiety and depression.

Early life sugar restriction was associated with significantly lower risks of both anxiety (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.765, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.732-0.799) and depression (HR = 0.786, 95% CI 0.749-0.824) over the lifetime. The protective effect showed duration dependence with the greatest benefit observed when the restriction spanned the entire first 1000 days. In addition, sugar rationing during this period delayed the first diagnosis by approximately 2 years for anxiety and 4 years for depression.

Sugar restriction during the first 1000 days after conception significantly reduces the risk of anxiety and depression and delays their first diagnosis, highlighting the importance of early life dietary interventions for long-term mental health.