Consumption of ultra-processed foods is linked to 57 thousand premature deaths in 2019 in Brazil

The consumption of ultra-processed foods was associated with 57,000 premature deaths in 2019 in the country, according to new Brazilian research.

This equates to 1 in 10 (10.5%) of all preventable deaths that year, according to data computed from DataSUS.

The research, conducted by the Nucleus of Epidemiological Research in Nutrition and Health at the University of São Paulo and researchers from the Faculties of Public Health and Medicine at USP and the University of Santiago (Chile), was published last Monday (7) in the journal American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

In the study, the relationship between consumption of ultra-processed foods and premature deaths was calculated for all causes, considering the estimate of the Brazilian population by the IBGE. The consumption of ultra-processed foods in the population was based on the 2017 and 2018 household budget survey (POF).

Premature deaths are those that occur in the age group 30 to 69 years, when there is no relevant incidence of deaths from diseases considered to be of childhood and adolescence (such as infectious diseases) or deaths associated with old age (which reduce life expectancy), according to the WHO (World Health Organization).

They also include those caused by the so-called NCDs (non-communicable diseases), whose incidence is higher in places with low access to basic health indicators, such as adequate nutrition, physical activity, health prevention, among others. Examples of NCDs are diabetes, hypertension, obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer — the latter being the two main causes of death in the Brazilian population, according to DataSUS.

This means that, in the Brazilian population, in 2019, even when considering deaths from accidents and other unnatural causes, premature deaths related to ultra-processed products represent about a fifth (21.8%) of deaths from NCDs.

Ultra-processed foods are those that contain almost nothing or very little of the original food. Examples are snacks, stuffed cookies, ice cream, soft drinks, candies and sweets. According to the 2014 Food Guide for the Brazilian Population, ultra-processed foods must have a minimum consumption in the Brazilian food pyramid, followed by processed foods, minimally processed foods, and, finally, in natura foods — these must occupy the base of the nutritional pyramid.

To assess how ultra-processed foods may be associated with mortality, scientists analyzed 541,160 premature deaths that occurred in 2019, of which roughly half (261,000) were from NCDs.

In the analysis, although the younger ones consumed more ultra-processed foods in relation to the daily diet, the number of deaths attributable to these foods was higher in the older ones when compared to the younger ones. Overall, consumption was associated with a higher number of attributable deaths in all age groups.

Finally, the research also found that a 10% reduction in the amount of ultra-processed foods ingested daily would reduce the number of deaths by up to 5,900; the 20% cut would prevent 12,000 deaths; and up to 29,000 deaths (about 51%) could be avoided by halving consumption.

Previous studies have already demonstrated the relationship of ultra-processed foods with a higher incidence of some types of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

“With the estimates of consumption of ultra-processed foods in the population and using the calculation of relative risk from past studies, we arrived at this number of deaths”, explains public health researcher and first author of the study, Eduardo Nilson.

The next step, says Nilson, is precisely to “break down” these outcomes into specific causes — roughly speaking, to be able to separate each death by type of cause. “As there is already a history of research associating ultra-processed foods with a higher incidence of NCDs, this was a way found to associate consumption with the total mortality effect, but there is also an expectation in the future to model for specific outcomes”, he says.

For him, the Brazilian population, for socioeconomic reasons such as cost of products, has an average consumption of ultra-processed foods in the diet relatively low compared to other countries, such as the United States and Canada, which already reach more than 70% of the total diet for this reason. type of food.

In Brazil, the average energy consumption of ultra-processed foods by the adult population considered in the study, based on the family budget survey, was 13% in the daily diet. “But this consumption has been growing alarmingly”, he says.

One of the ways to try to stop high consumption was implemented about a month ago in Brazil, with the determination of Anvisa, a federal health surveillance agency, that foods with a high sodium, fat and sugar content present this information on the label. “In terms of action, it is an important step, but considering what has been done in Latin American countries in recent years, it is still very little”, he reflects.

In addition to labeling, other strategies such as taxation of sugary drinks, reducing the supply of ultra-processed foods in supermarkets and the obligation to include foods with a high nutritional content in school meals, according to the Brazilian Food Guide, are actions that must be integrated in order to to obtain a better result, according to Nilson.

“It is necessary to stop this view of blaming the consumer, as if it were a fact of personal choice, and not considering the general context”, he says.