How childhood sugar intake causes obesity today

What the sugar you ate decades ago could be doing to you today

Ahhh… childhood…

Cartoons. Games. Candy. Sugary cereals. It was a blast, wasn’t it?

Unfortunately, the not-so-healthy choices we (and our parents) made when we were kids, still affect our health today.

But don’t blame your parents too much. A lot of these choices were influenced by skewed societal norms of the time.

Did you know, for example, that smoking during pregnancy used to be totally normal? Or that doctors used to tell women that formula was healthier than breastmilk? Or that by the 1970s and 80s, processed, sugary junk food had become such a staple of the American diet it was hard to find a kid that wasn’t eating it at least sometimes?

All of this stuff is still weighing down your (and my) health today. In fact, it plays a bigger role in major health issues than most of us ever realized… including obesity.

You can blame sugar from the 70s, 80s, and 90s for all the obesity

Here’s what we know about the obesity epidemic: it kept getting worse — until very recently…

In Tennessee, for example, obesity rates reached their highest in 2016. Then in 2017, they finally began to decline. But there’s something fishy about that fact….

As surprising as it may seem, sugar intake has been on the downswing for a long time… since 2000. So why did obesity continue to rise for so many years afterward? A new study shows it could be a delayed effect from the bad diets we ate decades ago.

Researchers from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville compared obesity data between 1990 and 2004 with sugar intake data since the 1970s. They found that we hit peak sugar consumption in 1999. In fact, in 1999, the average American ate around 60 pounds of high fructose corn syrup per year and got more than 400 calories per day from added sugars.

Luckily, sugar consumption started going down in 2000 and has continued to go down ever since. But here’s what researchers noticed in their analysis….

Peak obesity happened exactly one generation after peak sugar consumption. That means, what we ate decades ago may be making us obese today. In fact, researchers believe today’s adults (many of whom were children in the 70s and 80s) are still trying to overcome the effects of their childhood diets.

“Our results suggest that the dietary habits learned by children 30 or 40 years ago could explain the adult obesity crisis that emerged years later,” said Damian Ruck, coauthor of the study.

Sow the seeds for a healthier future

So, if you struggle with obesity, it might be less about what you’re eating today and more about what you ate decades ago.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make changes today. How else are you going to set yourself up for a healthier future? Because if your diet choices from decades ago are still haunting you today, your diet choices today may haunt (or help) you decades from now.

What choices should you make today to keep your future self from harm’s way?

Start by cutting out the sugary, processed foods a lot of us ate in our youth. Eat mostly whole foods instead, like whole grains, vegetables, high-quality protein, healthy fats, and fruits.

Stay physically active too. It’s easy to fall into sedentary habits in this world filled with office jobs, streaming services, and social media. But the more you move, the healthier you’ll be (regardless of how much you weigh).

You can also take an honest assessment of your approach to portion sizes. Many Americans overdo portion sizes. If you think you’re one of them, buy one of those portion control plates that helps you dish out the right amount of vegetables, carbs, protein, etc. at each meal.

The journey back from obesity isn’t an easy one. But if you keep following healthy habits (even when it doesn’t seem to be doing any good), your choices will pay off eventually.

Editor’s note: Getting fit and healthy is not as complicated as you might think. In Dr. Cutler’s free report, you can read about 10 easy steps to a natural total health makeover based on just 7 basic fundamentals that cover ALL the bases… My favorite is #7: Indulge occasionally! For the rest, click here!

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