In Europe, 1.55 million people die every year due to malnutrition. This is the conclusion of a recent study by Friedrich Schiller University Jena, the Institute of Sustainable Agriculture and Food (INL) and the nutriCARD competence cluster. The researchers analyzed the importance of nutrition for cardiovascular-related deaths in the period between 1990 and 2019. The researchers have published their findings in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
The study showed that one in six deaths in Europe can be attributed to an unbalanced diet.Around a third of deaths from cardiovascular diseases are associated with malnutrition," explains Theresa Pörschmann, first author of the study and doctoral student at the Department of Biochemistry and Physiology of Nutrition at the University of Jena. According to the study, the 27 EU member states account for around 600,000 premature deaths - around 112,000 of them in Germany. In percentage terms, most people in Europe die from diet-related cardiovascular diseases in Slovakia (48 percent) and Belarus (47 percent). The lowest percentages are found in Spain (24 percent). In Germany, 31 percent of all cardiovascular deaths are attributable to an unbalanced diet.
The study also shows which dietary factors had the greatest influence on premature deaths. "Unfortunately, it is always the same foods that we either eat too little or too much of," says Pörschmann. In particular, the negative influencing factors include eating too few whole grain products and too few legumes, followed by a diet with too much salt and too much red meat.
A third of deaths in people under 70
The type of cardiovascular disease and the distribution between the sexes and in different age groups were also examined. The majority of deaths were caused by ischemic heart disease, such as coronary artery disease, followed by strokes and hypertensive heart disease. In around 30 percent of all premature deaths, those affected were under the age of 70. In total, the researchers investigated 13 different types of cardiovascular disease and 13 different dietary factors.
Actual effect of diet probably even greater
"The study does not even take into account factors such as alcohol consumption and excessive energy intake, which can cause obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus," explains Prof. Stefan Lorkowski from the Institute of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Jena. "These are further important risk factors for cardiovascular diseases," adds Dr. Toni Meier from the Institute for Sustainable Agriculture and Nutrition in Halle. "The actual cardiovascular deaths caused by an unbalanced diet are therefore likely to be significantly higher."
The proportion of diet-related cardiovascular diseases has been rising since 2019
The analysis is based on data from the Global Burden of Disease Study and looks at a total of 54 countries in Western, Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia, which the World Health Organization groups together as the "European region". In addition to the EU member states and other European countries, this also includes several countries in the Middle East and Central Asia, such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Although the number of diet-related deaths is increasing worldwide due to the growing world population and rising life expectancy, their share of total deaths is falling. "Up until 2015, the proportion of diet-related cardiovascular diseases fell steadily. However, the figures have been rising slightly again since 2019," says Prof. Lorkowski. The current results once again highlight the great preventive potential of a balanced diet for heart health. "In Germany, we still have a lot of room for improvement and could prevent many premature deaths."
