Some 180,000 deaths a year worldwide blamed on sugar-sweetened beverages
Some 180, 000 obesity-related deaths a year worldwide are blamed on the intake of sugar-sweetened beverages, according to a study presented at an American Heart Association scientific conference in New Orleans.
By using information from 114 countries, the study was quoted by media Wednesday as finding that sugar-sweetened beverage consumption accounted for 133,000 deaths from diabetes, 44,000 deaths from cardiovascular diseases and 6,000 deaths from cancer.
It also said that 78 percent of these deaths were in low- and middle-income countries.
Of the 35 largest nations, Mexico had the highest rate of deaths related to the beverages, with the United States ranking third, and Japan had the lowest sugar-related deaths.
“Our findings should push policy makers world-wide to make effective policies to reduce consumption of sugary beverages, such as taxation, mass-media campaigns, and reducing availability of these drinks,” said researcher Gitanjali M. Singh, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Mass.
However, the American Beverage Association, the trade group for the non-alcoholic beverage industry, warned that the study only found the association between sugar-sweetened beverages and diabetes, but didn’t show consuming sugar causes diabetes.
It recommended that based on a 2,000-calories-a-week diet, adults should not consume more than 450 calories from sugar-sweetened beverages.
It is more important to focus on overall diet, instead of being too preoccupied with any particular nutrient, according to Dr. David Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine.
He said: “If we improve the quality of diets, we improve both sugar intake, and salt intake and everything else, and will certainly have better health to show for it.”
Source: Xinhuanet
Category: Health alert
