According to a study conducted by 130 researchers and published in the British journal The Lancet, 20% (1/5) of deaths due to cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer are because of a poor diet.
The study considered 15 significant dietary risk factors that may affect one state of health: low consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts and oilseeds, milk, fibre, calcium, omega-3 derived from fish, polyunsaturated fatty acids and high consumption of red meat, processed meats, sugary beverages, trans fatty acids and salt. The data were collected in 195 countries between 1990 and 2017 and quantified the impact of an unbalanced diet on mortality rates and the onset of non-communicable diseases. In some cases there was considerable variability in the data and consumption of different types of food or the amount of data available for some countries was insufficient. However, in general, it was observed that the most deaths were associated with a diet which was lacking in fruits and whole grains and rich in sodium.
In 2017, there were an estimated 11 million deaths associated with a diet with too much salt and too few plant-based products, of which deaths almost all (9.5 million) were caused by cardiovascular diseases. Another interesting fact is that, despite the considerable differences, no country optimally applies all 15 dietary elements taken into account in the study.
Generally speaking, consumption of almost all healthy foods was well below recommended measures in 2017, especially nuts and seeds, whole grains, and milk, while the consumption of non-healthy foods and nutrients was much higher than the recommended amounts especially for processed meats, sugary beverages and sodium/salt. Food intake (both healthy and unhealthy) is higher among middle-aged adults (50-69 years) and lower in young adults (25-49 years).
Of all the countries considered the most virtuous is undoubtedly the state of Israel where the annual deaths associated with a poor diet were 89 out of 100,000, followed by France (89.1) and Spain (89.5). Uzbekistan, by contrast, had a negative record with 892 deaths per year out of the 100,000 due to poor diet, followed by Egypt (552 out of 100,000). Italy ranks among the virtuous countries with 107.7 deaths out of 100,000 but remains below France and Spain, even though the country is considered the cradle of the Mediterranean diet and both of the other two countries follow a diet similar to ours.
This study is, in a sense, quite revolutionary. That is because it has adopted an approach to communication that is out of the ordinary. The researchers argue that to improve the diet of the global population it is more effective to encourage people to increase the consumption of healthier foods rather than to concentrate efforts on reducing the consumption of disease-related fats and sugars.
The results also underline the importance of the involvement of national policies in food production, distribution and consumption:
- the availability of fruit, vegetables and fresh food needs to be increased, especially in low income countries,
- large food companies must be forced, through taxation on less healthy foods, to place healthier products on the market,
- specialists in the field such as doctors, nutritionists, and dietitians, and the mass media as well, should be encouraged to talk about the importance of good healthy nutrition with the population.
The study certainly has some limitations due to the availability of data, especially in the poorest countries, but the message is plain and clear:
Diet, taken in the round, has more impact on our health than hypertension and cigarette smoking; and it is, therefore, essential to promote healthy eating and also enable countries that do not benefit from it to access fresh, healthy and quality food.
Sources and insights:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)30041-8/fulltext
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/03/science/diet-vegetables.html