Infant mortality rates are rising in Mississippi. The most likely single cause is poor maternal health. The number of obese mothers with diabetes has been rising rapidly. A consensus is emerging that the cause of the obesity epidemic is poor nutrition. Most experts believe the causes are complex. The experts are right. But that’s not the whole truth. There are simple steps that can be taken to improve the situation.

Linus Pauling wrote “How to Live Longer and Feel Better” just over 20 years ago. Pauling is the only person to have won two Nobel prizes in different fields. Pauling discovered some basic facts about human nutrition and documented them in this book. Arguing against Pauling’s beliefs was, and remains, a good way to lose an argument. Pauling had this to say in his book:

“As to eating and drinking there is only one don’t; that is sugar. Like the cigarette, the sugar sucrose is a novelty of industrial civilization. Together they have brought the pandemics of cancer and cardiovascular disease to the otherwise fortunate populations of the developed countries. Sugar in breakfast foods is especially harmful to infants and children. Sucrose can not be avoided, but a large decrease in the intake of this sugar is essential.”

When are we going to learn this lesson? How many more generations will be subjected to the failing “low fat” campaign? How can government officials and healthcare professionals still believe fat is the problem when “low fat” living has resulted in increasing obesity, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Does anyone deny that sugar in large quantities is new to civilization? How long will it be until a “no sugar” campaign gets a try?

I’m not optimistic about a “no sugar” campaign. Almost everyone craves sugar. It is quite possible that a life without sugar is a life not worth living. Like caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol, sugar is a low toxicity wonder drug. Better yet, it does not cause withdrawal symptoms.

Just because a broad-based “no sugar” campaign is naïve doesn’t mean steps can’t be taken to reduce infant mortality and improve child welfare. The steps are simple. Reduce sugar consumption when pregnant. Don’t feed sugar to your children. Remove sugar from schools. Don’t feed other people’s children sugar. When the children stop growing they are at lower risk of harm and can choose for themselves how much sugar they want to eat.

The positive advice in Pauling’s book is just as simple. The advice is to take vitamin C and a multivitamin containing extra B-complex vitamins. I’ve written multiple times on this subject. The highly processed foods dominating the diets of many poor Americans are typically high in calories and low in micronutrients. Despite countless denials from nutritionists and healthcare professionals who want to emphasize the complexities of good health, the simple act of eating daily several 1000 mg vitamin C supplements and one multivitamin tablet improves the health of children. The primary function of vitamins is to catalyze the growth and development of an egg and sperm into an adult. It is a long journey made up of countless individual steps (chemical reactions). Nature is cruel, and the journey is never made flawlessly. Abundant vitamins present every step of the way will always improve the outcome.

It is possible to get back on track towards zero infant mortality. Consider the simple steps of drastically reducing the amount of sugar in the diet of pregnant mothers and children, while simultaneously supplementing with vitamin C and multivitamins.