Unhealthy food is the most common cause of premature death in the world

An expanded study in 195 countries found that unhealthy foods still accounted for the largest number of premature deaths in the world. The results indicated that 11 million people died prematurely from malnutrition in 2017, bringing the share of malnutrition to one in five deaths.

The study data, published in the Lancet medical journal, covered the period from 1990 to 2017. Most premature deaths were due to heart disease, cancer and diabetes, and unhealthy eating plays an important role in the development of these diseases.

The results of the study, which monitored the effects of 15 types of food, warned of increased dependence on unhealthy foods such as processed or high-trans-fatty meat and the prevalence of increasing diabetic beverages and excess salt in all prepared foods.