Poor nutrition linked to 1 in 5 deaths worldwide

PARIS – One in five deaths worldwide is linked to poor nutrition, experts said Thursday, warning that over-consumption of sugar, salt and meat is killing millions of people every year.

The United Nations estimates that nearly one billion people worldwide are malnourished, while nearly 2 billion are "overfed".

But the latest study on global dietary trends, published in The Lancet, showed that in almost every country studied out of 195, people ate too much of the wrong types of food – and consumed worrying amounts of healthier products.

For example, the world consumes on average more than ten times the recommended amount of sweetened drinks and 86% more sodium per person compared to safety.

The study, which examined consumption and disease trends between 1990 and 2017, also warned that too many people were eating far too little whole grains, fruits, nuts and seeds to maintain a healthy diet. healthy lifestyle.

Of the 11 million deaths attributable to unhealthy eating, the deadliest was by far cardiovascular disease, often caused or aggravated by obesity.

"This study confirms what many have been thinking for years: a poor diet is responsible for more deaths than any other risk factor in the world," said study author Christopher Murray, director from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. .

"Our badessment suggests that the major dietary risk factors are high sodium intake or low intake of healthy foods."

The report highlighted a wide variation in diet-related deaths between countries, with Uzbekistan, a country at higher risk, recording a diet-based mortality rate greater than ten times that of children. Israel, the most at risk.

EAT-Lancet Report

In January, a consortium of three dozen researchers called for a radical change in the way the world eats.

The EAT-Lancet Report states that the world's population must consume about twice as much red meat and sugar and twice as much vegetables, fruits and nuts to avoid an epidemic of obesity in the world and avoid climate change. catastrophic".

The authors of Thursday's study noted that economic inequality is a factor in poor food choices in many countries.

It shows that in rich countries, reaching the "five per day" portions of fruits and vegetables recommended by doctors represents only 2% of household income, but more than half of household incomes in the poorest countries .

"This study gives us good evidence of what needs to be improved diets, and therefore health, at the global and national levels," said Oyinlola Oyebode, an badociate professor at Warwick Medical School, who says: did not participate in the research.

"The lack of fruits, vegetables and whole grains in diets around the world is very important, but the other dietary factor highlighted by this study is high sodium intake."