Sugary drinks 'cause millions of new cases' of diabetes and heart disease each year

Beverages that are high in sugar are rapidly digested, causing a spike in blood sugar levels with little nutritional value

An estimated 2.2 million new cases of Type 2 diabetes and 1.2 million new cases of cardiovascular disease occur each year around the world because of sugary drinks, say researchers. Reuters

Sugary drinks have been blamed for causing millions of new cases of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

A study by researchers at the Gerald J and Dorothy R Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in the US estimated that 2.2 million new cases of Type 2 diabetes and 1.2 million new cases of cardiovascular disease occur each year globally due to sugary drinks. In the Middle East, they directly contributed to about 15 per cent of diabetes cases, the study found. The study was published in Nature Medicine.

The researchers say sugary drinks spike blood sugar levels and provide little nutritional benefit. Regular consumption over time leads to weight gain, insulin resistance, and a host of metabolic issues tied to type 2 diabetes and heart disease, two of the world’s leading causes of death.

A study from Tufts last year found that global consumption of sugary drinks has increased by nearly 16 per cent since 1990. The average person drank 2.7 sugary servings a week according to a global study in 2018, up 0.37 per cent from 1990.

“Sugar-sweetened beverages are heavily marketed and sold in low- and middle-income nations. Not only are these communities consuming harmful products, but they are also often less well equipped to deal with the long-term health consequences,” said Dr Dariush Mozaffarian, senior author on the paper and director of the Food is Medicine Institute at the Friedman School.

Men are more likely than women to suffer the consequences of sugary drink consumption, as are younger adults compared to their older counterparts, the researchers said.

The study’s authors call for an approach combining public health campaigns, regulation of sugary drink advertising, and taxes. Some countries, including the UAE, have already taken steps in this direction.

“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,” said Dr Laura Lara-Castor, first author on the paper who is now at the University of Washington.

A shop worker stacks shelves with soft drinks in Johannesburg, South Africa. Reuters

The problem is particularly bad in Latin America and the Caribbean, where they contributed to nearly 24 per cent of new diabetes cases, and more than 11 per cent of new cases of cardiovascular disease in 2020.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, sugar-sweetened drinks contributed to more than a fifth, or 21.5 per cent, of all new diabetes cases and 10.5 per cent of cases of cardiovascular disease. In the Middle East, they directly contributed to 6.9 per cent of new cardiovascular disease cases and around 15 per cent of diabetes cases.

Colombia, Mexico, and South Africa have been particularly hard hit. More than 48 per cent of all new diabetes cases in Colombia were attributable to consumption of sugary drinks, while nearly one third of all new diabetes cases in Mexico were linked to sugary drink consumption. In South Africa, 27.6 per cent of new diabetes cases and 14.6 per cent of cardiovascular disease cases were attributable to sugary drink consumption.

Mexico, which has one of the highest per capita rates of sugary drink consumption in the world, introduced a tax on the beverages in 2014. Early evidence suggests that the tax has been effective in reducing consumption, particularly among lower-income individuals.

In the UAE, experts said the move to heavily tax sugar-filled soft drinks led to a fall in the number of new diabetes cases reported in Dubai.

“Much more needs to be done, especially in countries in Latin America and Africa where consumption is high and the health consequence severe,” says Dr Mozaffarian, who is also Jean Mayer Professor of Nutrition at the Friedman School.