FAB RESEARCH COMMENT:
Mounting evidence from many different sources, reviewed here, implicates excessive fructose consumption in early life as an important factor contributing to the current epidemic of childhood obesity.
Nutrition in early life is now known to have lifelong effects on the expression and regulation of many genes - including those involved in hormonal balance and energy metabolism.
These 'nutritional programming' effects indicate that if the growing problems of obesity and Type 2 diabetes are to be tackled effectively, much more attention needs to be paid to improving the nutritional status of mothers and infants - and reducing fructose intakes in pregnancy and infancy.
Other research shows that fructose not only contributes to insulin resistance and other features of the 'metabolic syndrome' associated with Type 2 diabetes and obesity, but can also impair brain function - although a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids may offer some protection against fructose-induced the memory and learning problems. See: