Sugary drinks are killing 184,000 adults around the world every year, and should be eliminated from people’s diets, medical experts have warned. The global death toll from sugar-laden drinks – ranging from soft drinks to fruit smoothies – has been revealed in a new paper published in the American Heart Association’s Circulation journal.
Most of the deaths are from people who die from diabetes, estimated at some 133,000 a year. Around 45,000 people die each year from heart disease and another 6,450 from cancer, according to the study - which is the first comprehensive assessment of the global deaths attributable to sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs).
Researchers estimating the deaths from diabetes, heart disease, and cancers in 2010 defined SSBs as any sugar-sweetened fizzy drinks, fruit drinks, sweetened iced teas, sports/energy drinks, or homemade sugary drinks. Pure fruit juice was excluded. The study drew on 62 dietary surveys including more than 611,000 people conducted between 1980 and 2010 across 51 countries – representing almost two thirds of the world’s adult population. This information, along with data on the health harms of sugary drinks, enabled researchers to estimate the number of deaths attributable to such beverages.
Sugary drinks are killing 184,000 adults around the world every year, says study
30 June 2015
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