The American Heart Association (AHA)
recommend consuming no more
than 450 calories from sugar-
sweetened beverages each week - the
equivalent to less than three 12 oz
cans of cola.
However, a 2011 study from the
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) found that males
consume an average of 178 calories
from sugary drinks daily, while
women consume around 103 calories
from sugary drinks each day.
For their study, lead author Prof.
Gitanjali Singh, research assistant
professor at the Friedman School of
Nutrition Science & Policy of Tufts
University in Boston, MA, and
colleagues set out to estimate the
annual rates of global deaths and
disabilities caused by sugary drink
consumption.
Their findings are published in
Circulation - a journal of the AHA.
The team analyzed 1980-2010 sugary
drink consumption data from 62
surveys involving 611,971 people over
51 countries. Specifically, they focused
on how sugary drink consumption
affects the number of deaths from
diabetes, cardiovascular disease and
cancer.
In their study, sugary drinks were
defined as sugar-sweetened sodas,
sports/energy drinks, fruit drinks,
sweetened ice teas and homemade
sugary drinks. They excluded 100%
fruit juice.
The researchers also gathered data on
national availability of sugar among
187 countries during the 20-year
period. Overall, the data allowed them
to assess how consumption of sugar-
sweetened beverages varies by age,
gender and population and how this
impacts death rates.
Prof. Singh and colleagues
estimated that in 2010, sugary drink
consumption was responsible for
around 184,450 deaths worldwide,
with 133,000 deaths from diabetes,
45,000 deaths from cardiovascular
disease and 6,450 deaths from
cancer.
The team found younger adults were
more likely to experience chronic
disease as a result of sugary drink
consumption than older adults, which
Prof. Singh says is a concern.
"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," he
explains, "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," Prof. Singh continues. "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."
Reducing sugary drink
consumption ' should be a
global priority'
The researchers also found low- and
middle-income countries had the
highest estimated rates of sugary
drink-related deaths, with around 76%
occurring in these regions.
Among the 20 most populated
countries, Mexico had the highest rate
of estimated sugary drink-related
deaths, with 405 deaths per 1 million
adults. The US had the second highest
rate, at an estimated 125 deaths per 1
million adults.
"Among the 20 countries with the
highest estimated sugar-sweetened
beverage-related deaths, at least eight
were in Latin America and the
Caribbean," notes Prof. Singh,
"reflecting the high intakes in that
region of the world."

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I have to be careful