Experts: Sugary drinks could be causing 200,000 deaths a year worldwide

Sugary soft drinks could be causing almost 200,000 deaths a year worldwide, a study has found.
Researchers used data from a major investigation of global disease to calculate the death toll associated with consumption of sodas and other sweetened drinks.


They linked the drinks to 133,000 deaths from diabetes, 44,000 from heart disease and 6,000 from cancer.
The vast majority - 78 per cent of the deaths - occurred in low and middle-income countries rather than rich countries.

Although a causal link cannot be proved, sugar-sweetened drinks are known to contribute to excess body weight which in turn increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

The findings were presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism meeting in New Orleans.


Last month researchers warned that drinking just one can of fizzy drink a day could increase the risk of developing life-threatening Type 2 diabetes.


Scientists have found that sugar-based calories, such as those found in fizzy drinks, are much more likely to cause the condition than the same number of calories from any other source.

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