Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/265765 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 15544
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Maternal sugar consumption in utero may have a variety of effects on offspring. We exploit the abolishment of the rationing of sweet confectionery in the UK on April 24, 1949, and its subsequent reintroduction some months later, in an era of otherwise uninterrupted rationing of confectionery (1942-1953), sugar (1940-1953) and many other foods, and we consider effects on late-life cardiovascular disease, BMI, height, type-2 diabetes and the intake of sugar, fat and carbohydrates, as well as cognitive outcomes and birth weight. We use individual-level data from the UK Biobank for cohorts born between April 1947–May 1952. We also explore whether one's genetic predisposition to the outcome can moderate the effects of prenatal sugar exposure. We find that prenatal exposure to derationing increases education and reduces BMI and sugar consumption at higher ages, in line with the "developmental origins" explanatory framework, and that the sugar effects are stronger for those who are genetically predisposed to sugar consumption.
Subjects: 
nutrition
food consumption
gene-environment interplay
education
developmental origins
JEL: 
I12
I18
I15
D45
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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