Consuming less sugar during pregnancy and the first years of life may lower the risk of developing dementia decades later, according to new research. People who experienced lower sugar intake before birth and through their first year of life had a 21% lower risk of dementia, while those whose sugar intake remained limited through age two had a 23% lower risk, researchers found. People who experienced lower sugar intake before birth and through their first year of life had a 21% lower risk of dementia, researchers found. Researchers stressed that the study found only an association between early-life sugar intake and dementia risk and does not prove that reducing sugar directly prevents the disease. As a result, the findings cannot establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship between lower sugar intake early in life and a reduced risk of dementia.