What children usually eat for breakfast may affect whether or not they develop type 1 diabetes. The study was conducted in Finland, where rates of type 1 diabetes are very high. Many factors may contribute to the risk of this autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the pancreas. Scientists wondered whether children’s early foods might play a role.
Tracking Early Foods and Rates of Diabetes:
Investigators kept tabs on more than 5,600 youngsters from birth to six years old (European Association for the Study of Diabetes, Madrid, Spain Sept. 9, 2024). They believed that these kids were genetically predisposed to develop type 1 diabetes. The parents kept conscientious records on everything the children ate, beginning with the early foods after breast milk.
Which Foods Were Linked to Diabetes?
During the study, 94 children developed type 1 diabetes and 206 developed a prediabetic condition called islet autoimmunity. Analysis of the data showed that children who ate more rye, oats and fruit were more likely to develop diabetes. (Rye is far more popular in Finland than in the US.) In addition, those who ate more bananas, wheat and fermented dairy products like yogurt or kefir were at higher risk of islet autoimmunity.
Some Foods Were Beneficial:
There were early foods that were helpful. Diabetes was less likely to strike kids who consumed berries, including black currants, lingonberries, raspberries and blueberries. The body doesn’t seem to handle berries as it does other fruit.
Certain vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower also seem to be helpful. No one has peer-reviewed this study for publication yet. The researchers presented it at a conference. Consequently, the authors are not making policy recommendations based on their analysis.
Vitamin D Fortification Lowered Diabetes:
There have been long been hints that vitamin D deficiency may increase the risk of type 1 diabetes. Finland is located so far north that sun exposure does not promote vitamin D production much of the year. In light of that, the country started a campaign to fortify common foods with vitamin D in 2003.
A long-term study of Finnish children found that average blood levels of vitamin D around 2005 were significantly higher than those five years earlier. In the period from 1998 to 2002, nearly 70 percent of the youngsters were deficient in vitamin D, compared to only 37 percent from 2003 to 2006 (Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, online July 25, 2014).
This change in vitamin D levels may be related to a significant decrease in the number of Finnish children developing type 1 diabetes after 2006. Obviously, though, Finnish public health authorities want to do more to curb the disease.
Learn More:
Two of our eGuides may be of interest: our eGuide to Preventing and Treating Diabetes deals with type 2 rather than type 1 diabetes. You might also wish to consult our eGuide on Vitamin D and Optimal Health.
