Cardiovascular mortality attributable to dietary risk factors in 54 countries in the WHO European Region from 1990 to 2019: an updated systematic analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study

Theresa Pörschmann; Toni Meier; Stefan Lorkowski

doi:10.1093/eurjpc/zwae136

Cardiovascular mortality attributable to dietary risk factors in 54 countries in the WHO European Region from 1990 to 2019: an updated systematic analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study

Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2024 Apr 15:zwae136. doi: 10.1093/eurjpc/zwae136. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Theresa Pörschmann^{1

2}, Toni Meier^{2

3}, Stefan Lorkowski^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Nutritional Sciences, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany.
² Competence Cluster for Nutrition and Cardiovascular Health (nutriCARD) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Germany.
³ Institute for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Economics (INL) e.V., Halle (Saale), Germany.

PMID: 38620078
DOI: 10.1093/eurjpc/zwae136

Abstract

This study aimed to estimate the association between single dietary risk factors and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in the WHO European Region (WHO ER) by age and sex using the data of the Global Burden of Diseases Study (GBD) from 1990 to 2019. For this purpose, 13 dietary risks and 13 forms of CVDs were included in the study, and the comparative risk assessment framework of the GBD was used to estimate the deaths attributable to them. The study included four regions, with a total of 54 countries. In 2019, 1.55 million (95% UI, 1.2-1.9 million) people in the WHO ER died from CVDs attributable to suboptimal diet. Diet-related CVD deaths (DRCDs) accounted for 16.4% of total deaths and 36.7% of CVD deaths in 2019. Between 1990 and 2019, there was a DRCDs reduction of 8.1% and the age-standardised death rate decreased. The deaths were almost equally distributed between women (777,714 deaths) and men (772,519 deaths). The distribution of death numbers between the sexes has changed only slightly over the study period. The largest percentage across the age groups were found in the group 85+ years (32.1%). Most DRCDs in the WHO ER were caused by a diet low in whole grains (326,755 deaths), followed by a diet low in legumes (232,918 deaths) and a diet high in sodium (193,713 deaths). Overall, 80.3% of deaths were due to ischaemic heart disease, which was the most common cause of death in all countries.

Keywords: Global Burden of Disease Study; Public health; WHO European Region; cardiovascular diseases; dietary risk factors; nutrition.

Plain language summary

This study aimed to estimate the association between single dietary risk factors and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in the WHO European Region (WHO ER) by age and sex using the data of the Global Burden of Diseases Study from 1990 to 2019. Key findings:In 2019, 1.55 million people in the WHO ER died from diet-related CVD deaths (DRCDs), which accounted for 16.4% of total deaths and was a DRCDs reduction of 8.1% since 1990.Most DRCDs in the WHO ER were caused by a diet low in whole grains, followed by a diet low in legumes and a diet high in sodium.