Soft Drinks Kill 184,000 Adults Every Year - Research Study
The dangers of fizzy, sugary drinks have once again been highlighted as scientists have said they kill 184,000 adults every year.
It further said those under 45 consume more artificially sweetened drinks and are more at risk of diabetes and obesity.
The worldwide study is the first to estimate deaths and disability from diabetes, heart disease, and cancers caused by the drinks.
It added that 133,000 deaths from diabetes, 45,000 deaths from cardiovascular disease and 6,450
deaths from cancer were caused by fizzy drinks, fruit drinks, energy drinks and sweetened ice teas in 2010.
The study did not include pure fruit juices and all drinks had at least 50 kcal per eight US ounces (0.23 litres) serving or just over two thirds of a standard pop can.
According to Dr Dariush Mozaffarian, Dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston said "many countries in the world have a significant number of deaths occurring from a single dietary factor, sugar-sweetened beverages"
She therefore said it should be a global priority to substantially reduce or eliminate sugar-sweetened beverages from the diet as there are no health benefits from them.
The study based its estimates of consumption from 62 dietary surveys including 611,971 individuals conducted between 1980 and 2010 across 51 countries, along with data on national availability of sugar in 187 countries and other information.
Based on meta-analyses of other published evidence on health harms of sugar-sweetened beverages, it calculated the direct impact on diabetes and the obesity-related effects on cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer.
It found sugar drinks caused more deaths in Mexico with 405 deaths per million adults equal to 24,000 total deaths followed by the US with an estimated 125 deaths per million adults or 25,000 total deaths.
Japan also came in with the estimated percentage of deaths less than 1% of over 65 years old, but 30% in Mexican adults under 45.
Three quarters of all deaths are linked to developing countries. Younger adults were however more at risk of chronic illnesses than older people.
The study which was published in the journal, Circulation, raised concern on the health impact of sugar-sweetened beverage intake on the young as younger adults form a large sector of the workforce in many countries.
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