While diseases, such as cancer, diabetes and heart ailments top the charts when it comes to causing deaths worldwide, there are some conditions that aren’t even considered. It turns out that poor diets are also accounted as one of the major causes of death, globally.
In fact, a poor diet is right at the top of the list of diseases that cause death globally, accounting for nearly one in five deaths.
Eating unhealthy food, or not having enough food—including children unable to breastfeed—contribute to widespread malnutrition, said researchers behind the latest Global Nutrition Report, according to a report by Reuters.
“Diets are one of the top risk factors of morbidity and mortality in the world— more than air pollution, more than smoking,” said Jessica Fanzo, a professor at Johns Hopkins University and a lead author.
“What we’re eating is killing us. So, something needs to get us back on track with our food system,”
she said on the sidelines of a global food conference in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok.
A lack of knowledge, an inability to afford nutritious food and an inefficient supply chain are some of the key causes that contribute to a poor diet, states Fanzo.
We’ve been eating the all the sort foods, like junk food because it’s cheap and sometimes more accessible than healthy foods. Not being able to eat a diet that is inclusive of a healthy mix of ingredients, such as while grains, fruit, nuts, seeds and fish oil is what is increasing the risk of early death, according to the study.
Every country is battling some form of malnutrition—be it children who are anaemic or too short for their age, or women who are overweight but undernourished due to unhealthy diets—and adolescence obesity rates are rising, the report said, reported Reuters.
The report stated that malnutrition could potentially cost the world $3.5 trillion per year, while overweight and obesity could cost US$500 billion annually.
Another recent report states that about 1.3 million tons of foods gets wasted around the world every year.
Considering a third of all the food in the world gets wasted and doesn’t even reach our plates, this is a criminal waste.
“Each year more than half of all the fruits and vegetables produced globally are lost or wasted,” said Sir John Beddington, co-chair of the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, an independent group of expert told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by email.
Fanzo makes a valid point regarding the nutrition and the future populations of any country. “You have to care about what people are eating if you want to build the intellect of your country,” she says.
Article Credit:-IndiaTimes