Sugar Sweetened Beverages Linked to 180,000 Deaths Worldwide

Each year, people consume a staggering 100 liters of soft drinks. Americans drink more soft drinks than water. Every time people have a fizzy drink, they pour huge quantities of sugar down their throats. Sugar-sweetened beverages are harmful as they pose serious health risks.

A latest study reveals that every year nearly 180,000 deaths worldwide are linked with the consumption of sugary soft drinks. Sugar-sweetened beverages are known to cause diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

The study was based on data collected as a part of the 2010 Global Burden of Diseases Study. Based on the data, researchers linked intake of sugar-sweetened beverages to 133,000 diabetes deaths, 44,000 cases of cardiovascular disease and 6,000 cancer deaths.   

They found that 78 percent of the deaths that occurred due to over-consumption of sugary drinks were in the low- and middle-income countries.

"In the U.S., our research shows that about 25,000 deaths in 2010 were linked to drinking sugar-sweetened beverages," Gitanjali M. Singh, Ph.D., co-author of the study, said in a press statement.

The most number of diabetes deaths, i.e., 38,000, occurred in Latin America due to consumption of beverages in 2010. The largest number of cardiovascular deaths, i.e., 11,000 occurred in East/Central Eurasia due to sugary beverages.

The country with the lowest per capita consumption of sugary beverages in the world is Japan.  It has the lowest death rate linked with sugary beverages, about 10 deaths per million adults.

The researchers plan to conduct a further study on the consumption of beverages among children and how it affects their current health.

The study was presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism 2013 Scientific Sessions.