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Close to half of European cardiovascular deaths linked to poor nutrition
Of the 4.3 million cardiovascular deaths in Europe in 2016,
2.1 million were the result of poor nutrition. The 28 EU
member states account for around 900 000, Russia for 600
000 and the Ukraine for 250 000 of these deaths. Every
second to third premature cardiovascular death could be
prevented by better nutrition.
These were the findings of an international research team
ledby theMartinLutherUniversityHalle-Wittenberg (MLU),
the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, the nutriCARD
competence cluster and the University of Washington in the
USA.
For the study, the team evaluated representative data
from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) which
were collected between 1990 and 2016. They analysed the
prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks
and strokes, in the 51 countries that the World Health
Organisation (WHO) has designated as ‘European region’.
In addition to the EU member states and other European
countries, several states in the Middle East and Central Asia
were also included, such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Israel,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan
and Uzbekistan.
Based on food consumption and other risk factors in the
respective countries, the researchers calculated the percentage
of deaths attributable to an unbalanced diet, for example, the
under-consumption of whole-grain products, nuts, seeds and
vegetables, as well as the over-consumption of salt.
A comparison of the countries revealed clear differences:
in 2016, 160 000 deaths (46% of all cardiovascular deaths)
were associated with an unbalanced diet in Germany, 97
000 (41%) in Italy, 75 000 (41%) in Great Britain and 67 000
(40%) in France. In Israel and Spain, however, only one in
three premature cardiovascular deaths was diet related.
Specific country profiles were published as part of the
study: ‘In Sweden and Norway the under-consumption of
nuts and seeds is most strongly associated with cardiovascular
diseases, while in many Central and Eastern European
and Central Asian countries the low intake of whole grain
products poses the greatest risk. Or to put it another way:
increased consumption of low-fibre white flour products has
led to an increase in cardiovascular disease in recent years. In
Albania, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, the number of cases
has more than doubled in the period under review,’ says Dr
Toni Meier from MLU, who heads the study.
‘Our findings are crucially relevant for health policy
and should be incorporated in the development of future
prevention strategies,’ adds Prof Stefan Lorkowski of the
University of Jena, co-author of the study and spokesperson
for the nutriCARD competence cluster. ‘We must make
better use of the potential of a balanced and healthy diet,
otherwise cardio-metabolic diseases will be the cause of even
more preventable deaths in the future.’
The team also found significant differences in terms of
age and gender: men tended to be affected at a younger age,
while women were only affected from the age of 50 onwards.
In 2016, around 601 000 people under the age of 70 died from
diet-related cardiovascular disease, 420 000 of them men
and 181 000 women. The highest proportion of diet-related
deaths among the under-70s was observed in Central Asia,
where the figure was 42.5%.
In the EU member states, the researchers identified 178
000 premature diet-related deaths, 132 000 of them men and
46 000 of them women, which corresponds to almost 20% of
cardiovascular deaths.
With the help of a calculation model, the researchers were
also able to determine the effects of other risk factors such as
obesity, high blood pressure, lack of exercise and smoking,
thereby identifying the specific proportion of cardiovascular
disease caused by an improper diet.
‘It should also be emphasised that the well-known risk
factor of alcohol was not taken into account by our study.
In countries with a high consumption of alcohol, the degree
of diet-related cardiovascular disease could be even higher,’
remarks nutritionist Prof Gabriele Stangl from the MLU.
Source:
Medical Brief 2018