Warner Rebuts 23% Dementia Claim in Sugar Study, Citing Postwar Rationing Assumptions
Updated
Updated · The Grocer · Aug 18
Warner Rebuts 23% Dementia Claim in Sugar Study, Citing Postwar Rationing Assumptions
1 articles · Updated · The Grocer · Aug 18
Summary
Anthony Warner said headlines claiming toddlers who ate less sugar faced a 23% lower dementia risk badly overstated a Neurology study and risked scaring parents.
The study did not measure children's sugar intake; it compared people exposed to post-World War II sugar rationing in their first two years with those born slightly later.
Warner argued that design cannot support a causal sugar-dementia link because the later-born group also grew up in a more affluent society with many other dietary and social changes.
He said excessive sugar is already well-supported as harmful, but weak nutrition studies and uncritical coverage can undermine stronger science and public trust.