Child health win #2 - Sugar

In this episode, Greg Dickens and I discuss a recent paper on the effects of recent guidelines about early introduction of food allergy. We discuss how much activity is needed to set children up for longer telomeres and better health. We then talk about sugar - how it affects metabolic health and how we can set children up for healthier lives. Greg talks about his experience with sugar addiction. Finally, we talk about the Pikler approach - what we agree with, and where we think the evidence doesn’t fully support this approach.For more information on sugar’s effects on child health, try this article: https://guenbradbury.substack.com/p/helping-children-avoid-sugarFor more information on why sugar affects every part of health, try this article: https://guenbradbury.substack.com/p/the-biggest-return-on-investmentFor more information on raising children who don’t want sugar, try this article: https://guenbradbury.substack.com/p/raising-children-who-dont-want-sugarTopics covered* How have recent guidelines on food allergen introduction affected rates of food allergy? [01:54]* How much activity sets children up with longer telomeres? [07:10]* How does sugar affect a child’s long-term health? [12:19]* Why do we recommend avoiding sugar in early childhood? [29:40]* What does it feel like to quit sugar as an adult on a high-sugar diet? [33:24]* What does the Pikler approach say about helping children move, and what’s our perspective? [40:24]Hello, I’m so glad you’re here! I need a hand…I’m trying to find a publisher for my book at the moment, and they use ‘number of subscribers’ as a proxy for value of writing. I want to keep my writing on Substack free so it’s available for all parents, but Substack’s algorithm seems to now hide a lot of unpaywalled writing. I’m struggling to get much reach.If you find my writing or podcasts useful, please would you consider forwarding this email or podcast to someone you know who might be interested? Or liking, sharing, or commenting if you read it on the Substack app?My agent is approaching publishers in the next month or two, so your help would be SO appreciated. 😊 Thank you so much!These other podcasts cover related topics:Notes“We detected decreased rates of peanut or any IgE-FA in the period following the publication of early introduction guidelines and addendum guidelines. Our results are supportive of the intended effect of these landmark public health recommendations.” https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/156/5/e2024070516/204636/Guidelines-for-Early-Food-Introduction-andTelomeres and extracurricular physical activity: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41390-025-04445-8 Get full access to Growing up WEIRD at guenbradbury.substack.com/subscribe