By the time a child is 4-8 years old, his sugar consumption skyrockets to an average of 21 teaspoons a day. The same study found 14-18 year old children intake the most sugar on a daily basis, averaging about 34.3 teaspoons.
In space, the body begins to adapt to the microgravity environment. NSBRIâs science and technology program is addressing ways to reduce or eliminate many of the changes to the body that impact an astronautâs ability to perform well in space and that might impact their health after returning to Earth.
Humans traveling in space are also at great risk for barotrauma, decompression sickness (also known as 'the bends'), and immune system issues. The atmosphere on Earth provides a large amount of protection from cosmic radiation, but without an atmosphere surrounding us, we are much more susceptible to this danger. This is one reason that space travel by humans to places like Mars would be very dangerous to our health. Astronauts traveling this far would be at a much greater risk for dangerous radiation exposure, which can lead to various diseases like cancer.