《循環》雜志刊登的一篇研究發現，甜飲料每年在全球可能導致了184000成年人的死亡。該研究在2013年美國心臟學會的流行病學與疾病預防會議中被提出過。
美國塔夫斯大學弗里德曼營養科學與政策學院院長、也是該研究的資深作者、醫學博士Dariush Mozaffarian稱：“甜飲料的消費在很多國家導致了大量死亡的發生。我們應該減少甜飲料的生產、消費或者直接將它們從膳食中去掉。”
作為全球第一篇關于甜飲料對健康影響的全球性的詳細報告，研究人員統計了2010年因經常喝甜飲料而患糖尿病、心臟病和癌癥最終導致死亡或殘疾的人數。在這份研究中，甜飲料是指含糖的碳酸飲料、果汁、運動/能量飲料、含糖冰紅茶，還包括一些自制的飲料（每份8盎司至少50千卡能量）。不包括百分之百的純果汁。
該研究由62個膳食調查組成，調查時間從1980年到2010年，包括了51個國家的 611971人，研究中還包括了187個國家的糖消費水平和其他相關信息。這保證了研究中甜飲料消費人群地理、性別和年齡的差異性。研究者把已發表的甜飲料對健康損害的證據進行了薈萃分析，得出結論：飲用甜飲料對糖尿病有直接影響，因為甜飲料導致的肥胖也對心血管疾病、糖尿病和癌癥而產生影響。
2010年，研究者估計甜飲料的消費可能需要為以下后果負責：
死于糖尿病的133000人
死于心血管疾病的45000人
死于癌癥的6450人
Mozaffarian稱，居民膳食習慣的改變，有一些可能因為農業、經濟、儲存條件和其他復雜的因素而很難實現，比如增加水果和蔬菜的攝入量。但是減少甜飲料并不復雜。甜飲料本身沒有任何的健康作用，而減少它的消費卻是在拯救每年成千上萬因此死亡的人。
甜飲料在不同人群中產生的健康影響差別巨大。在日本65歲以上的人群中因消費甜飲料而死亡的人數約有不到1%， 但是在墨西哥45歲以下人群中這個比例約為30%。墨西哥因甜飲料導致的死亡率最高，為每一百萬成人中約有405人因甜飲料死亡（總死亡人數：24000），美國排名第二，每一百萬成人中約有125人因甜飲料死亡（總死亡人數：25000）。
據估計甜飲料導致的死亡人數中76%的消費者來自中低收入國家。在加勒比海地區和拉丁美洲國家，如墨西哥，自制的甜飲料非常流行，并且和工業生產的甜飲料一樣被消費者購買。弗里德曼學院助理研究員，也是這個研究的第一作者Gitanjali Singh稱，在甜飲料導致的死亡率最高的20個國家，至少8個位于拉丁美洲和加勒比海地區，反映出當地人民對于甜飲料的高攝入量。
總的來說，在青年中因為大量攝入甜飲料而導致的慢性疾病所占的比例要比老年人中更高。“甜飲料對于年輕人健康的影響是很重要的，因為在很多國家青年都是勞動力的主要組成部分，因此甜飲料在這個年齡段所引起的死亡和殘疾所產生的經濟影響巨大。它也提高了人們對于未來的焦慮。如果這些年輕人繼續大量喝甜飲料，當他們年老的時候，喝甜飲料產生的后果與衰老帶來的身體變化綜合起來，可能會導致他們因心臟病和糖尿病引起的死亡率和致殘率比我們現在看到的老年人的情況還要糟糕。” Singh說。
翻譯：朱曉倩
來源： Tufts University. (2015, June 29). Sugary drinks linked to high death tolls worldwide. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 29, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150629162646.htm
Consumption of sugary drinks may lead to an estimated 184,000 adult deaths each year worldwide, according to research published today in the journal Circulation and previously presented as an abstract at the American Heart Association Council on Epidemiology and Prevention in 2013.
"Many countries in the world have a significant number of deaths occurring from a single dietary factor, sugar-sweetened beverages. It should be a global priority to substantially reduce or eliminate sugar-sweetened beverages from the diet," said Dariush Mozaffarian, M.D., Dr.P.H., senior author of the study and dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy at Tufts University in Boston.
In the first detailed global report on the impact of sugar-sweetened beverages, researchers estimated deaths and disabilities from diabetes, heart disease, and cancers in 2010. In this analysis, sugar sweetened beverages were defined as any sugar-sweetened sodas, fruit drinks, sports/energy drinks, sweetened iced teas, or homemade sugary drinks such as frescas, that contained at least 50 kcal per 8oz serving. 100 percent fruit juice was excluded.
Estimates of consumption were made from 62 dietary surveys including 611,971 individuals conducted between 1980 and 2010 across 51 countries, along with data on national availability of sugar in 187 countries and other information. This allowed capture of geographical, gender and age variation in consumption levels of sugar-sweetened beverages in different populations. Based on meta-analyses of other published evidence on health harms of sugar-sweetened beverages, the investigators calculated the direct impact on diabetes and the obesity-related effects on cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer.
In 2010, the researchers estimate that sugar-sweetened beverages consumption may have been responsible for approximately:
? 133,000 deaths from diabetes
? 45,000 deaths from cardiovascular disease
? 6,450 deaths from cancer
"Some population dietary changes, such as increasing fruits and vegetables, can be challenging due to agriculture, costs, storage, and other complexities. This is not complicated. There are no health benefits from sugar-sweetened beverages, and the potential impact of reducing consumption is saving tens of thousands of deaths each year," Mozaffarian said.
The impact of sugar-sweetened beverages varied greatly between populations. At the extremes, the estimated percentage of deaths was less than 1 percent in Japanese over 65 years old, but 30 percent in Mexican adults younger than 45. Of the 20 most populous countries, Mexico had the highest death rate attributable to sugar-sweetened beverages with an estimated 405 deaths per million adults (24,000 total deaths) and the U.S. ranked second with an estimated 125 deaths per million adults (25,000 total deaths).
About 76 percent of the estimated sugar-sweetened beverage-related deaths occurred in low- or middle-income countries.
In nations of the Caribbean and Latin America, such as Mexico, homemade sugary drinks (e.g. frescas) are popular and consumed in addition to commercially prepared sugar-sweetened beverages. "Among the 20 countries with the highest estimated sugar-sweetened beverage-related deaths, at least 8 were in Latin America and the Caribbean, reflecting the high intakes in that region of the world," said Gitanjali Singh, Ph.D., lead author of the study and a research assistant professor at the Friedman School.
Overall, in younger adults, the percent of chronic disease attributed to sugar-sweetened beverages was higher than the percent in older adults. "The health impact of sugar-sweetened beverage intake on the young is important because younger adults form a large sector of the workforce in many countries, so the economic impact of sugar-sweetened beverage-related deaths and disability in this age group can be significant. It also raises concerns about the future. If these young people continue to consume high levels as they age, the effects of high consumption will be compounded by the effects of aging, leading to even higher death and disability rates from heart disease and diabetes than we are seeing now," Singh said.
