A recent study has discovered that sugary drinks are responsible for over 2.2 million cases of diabetes and 1.1 million cases of heart disease in a year globally.
The research, which was published in the Nature Medicine journal, revealed that as many as one in six new cases of type 2 diabetes can be attributed to fizzy and sugary drinks, making up nearly 10 per cent of the total cases.
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The study, which covered 184 countries, found that sweet beverages like cola and lemonade were the reason behind 35,000 cases of type 2 diabetes in Britain in 2020.
Dr Laura Lara-Castor, who led the study from Tufts University, Massachusetts, said that “aggressive efforts” were needed to discourage people from those drinks, “including restrictions on advertising such as that aimed at children, a crackdown on sugary drinks being served in schools and workplaces, and health warnings on bottles of drinks”.
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“The UK could also consider a higher sugar tax so that companies further reduce the sugar in their drinks and people are less likely to buy sugary drinks,” she added. Lara-Castor now works at Washington University.
The study analysed the total number of individuals diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease between 1990 and 2020. An estimate of the number of people who consume sugary drinks was then determined based on past research.
Britain recorded the tenth biggest rise in cases of type 2 diabetes caused by consuming sugary drinks among the 30 most populous countries in the world.
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However, Britain also observed the biggest fall in the cases of cardiovascular deaths linked to type 2 diabetes.
According to scientists, an estimated 1 in 25 deaths from type 2 diabetes could be linked to sugary drinks in Britain in 2020. While 1 in 40 deaths related to heart disease could be due to those drinks.
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Lara-Castor said, “We need urgent, evidence-based interventions to curb consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages globally, before even more lives are shortened by their effects on diabetes and heart disease.”
(With inputs from agencies)