Roughly one in six deaths in Europe is attributed to unhealthy eating habits, and for cardiovascular diseases, this affects every third fatality.
According to a recent study by Friedrich Schiller University Jena, the Institute for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Sciences (INL), and the nutriCard competence cluster, around 1.55 million people in Europe die each year due to unbalanced nutrition.
The study analyzed deaths from 1990 to 2019 and indicates that a lack of whole grains and legumes, as well as excessive consumption of salt and red meat, are among the negative contributing factors.
Most of these premature deaths due to malnutrition are related to ischemic heart diseases such as heart diseases and strokes, with one-third of the affected individuals being younger than 70 years old. Researchers examined a total of 13 different cardiovascular diseases and 13 dietary factors. However, factors such as alcohol consumption and excessive energy intake, which can lead to overweight and type 2 diabetes, have not yet been taken into account.
The study is based on data from the Global Burden of Disease Study and covers 54 countries in Europe and Central Asia. Although the number of nutrition-related deaths worldwide is increasing due to population growth and rising life expectancy, their proportion of total deaths is decreasing.
