Poor and unhealthy diet is responsible for one in five deaths in the world, more than those who kill cigarettes and hypertension, according to a new international scientific study.
Eating more healthy foods such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables and nuts, as well as less unhealthy foods such as sugary drinks, salt, trans fats and red processed meats, could to prevent many deaths.
The highest number of diet-related deaths (more than 50% of all) is due to high salt intake (three million deaths per year), low whole grains (three million deaths) and not enough fruit (two million). deaths).
More than 130 scientists from 40 countries, led by Assistant Professor Askan Afsin of the Institute for Metrics and Health Assessment at the University of Washington in Seattle, published their findings in The Lancet Medical Journal today. and a more in-depth analysis of the relationship between nutrition and health, analyzing data for 195 countries during the period 1990-2017.
The study (part of the wider Global Burden of Disease research), funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, estimates that malnutrition was responsible for 10,9 million deaths in 2017 (22% of all adult deaths worldwide), compared to eight million deaths in 1990.
The main causes of diet-related deaths are cardiovascular disease (9,5 million deaths), cancer (913.000) and diabetes (339.000), respectively. By comparison, tobacco was associated with eight million deaths and hypertension with 10,4 million. "Malnutrition kills. "We are what we eat and the risks affect everyone, regardless of age, gender and financial status," said Dr. Afsin, who stressed that the new study highlights the effects of diet on chronic health problems, regardless of obesity.
"The study confirms what many people have been thinking for years, that malnutrition is responsible for more deaths than any other risk factor in the world," said Christopher Murray, a professor at the University of Washington and director of the Institute for Metrology and Evaluation. .
Of the 195 countries surveyed, the highest death toll from malnutrition is in Uzbekistan (892 deaths per 100.000) and the lowest in Israel (89 deaths per 100.000). Among countries with large populations, Egypt has the highest death rate from malnutrition (552 per 100.000), while Japan has the lowest (97 per 100.000).
No country is perfect, as in some things everyone follows healthy eating habits and in others unhealthy. However, the Mediterranean countries are in a better position compared to. The study estimates that on average people consume only 12% of the recommended amount of nuts (three grams per day compared to the 21 grams recommended), while drinking ten times the amount of sugary drinks (49 grams per day) from recommended (three grams).
In addition, the average global diet includes only 16% of the recommended amount of milk (71 grams per day instead of 435), 23% of the recommended amount of whole grains (29 grams per day instead of 125), almost twice the amount of processed meat than recommended. (four grams a day instead of two) and almost twice as much salt as recommended (six grams a day instead of three).
Source: KYPE