A study published in the journal Circulation has estimated the number of global deaths per year that are associated with sugar-sweetened drinks, what diseases sugar-sweetened deaths are linked to and where in the world these deaths are occurring. They estimated that 184,000 deaths per year are associated with consuming sugar-sweetened drinks and when they broke these numbers down by disease area most of the sugar-sweetened drink deaths were associated with diabetes (133,000 death per year). Cardiovascular disease was associated with 45,000 of these deaths and cancers 6,450.
The study also found that the majority of sugar-sweetened drink deaths occur in middle-income countries (71%) whilst 24% of these deaths occur in high-income countries and 5% in low-income countries.
This is a very important study as it yet again provides more evidence of the effect of sugar on our health. It shows the clear need for all of us to reduce our sugar consumption and this is particularly important for the black community who are 3 times more likely to have diabetes and therefore are more likely to be affected by sugar-sweetened drink death.
