Bad diets kill more than smoking

Unhealthy diets cause more deaths worldwide than smoking or high blood pressure, new research has found. And while the researchers found that consumption of red meat, sugary drinks, and other unhealthy options play a part in that toll, they concluded that the majority of these deaths are the result of people not eating enough healthy foods. Covering 195 countries between 1990 and 2017, the Global Burden of Disease study tracked consumption of 15 dietary elements. The main risk factors for premature death, researchers found, were eating too few fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and whole grains and consuming too much salt. Overall, researchers estimate, poor diet accounts for 10.9 million deaths around the world, a fifth of total preventable fatalities. By comparison, tobacco is linked to 8 million deaths and high blood pressure to 10.4 million. Lead author Ashkan Afshin, from the University of Washington, says health authorities should focus on encouraging healthy eating rather than trying to persuade people to cut down on sugar, fat, or even salt. “Generally in real life people do substitution,” he tells The Guardian (U.K.). “When they increase the consumption of something, they decrease the consumption of other things.”

European Southern Observatory, MediaBakery, Newscom ■