Media release

From: Griffith University

Sugar-sweetened beverage research does not sugar coat the concerning health impacts

9 January 2025

As Australians emerge from the festive break where most indulge in sugar-laden treats and drinks, new research has provided a stark reminder of the devastating health impacts of sugar laden beverages.

The research was spearheaded by an extensive team of international academic institutions including Griffith University, making it one of the most comprehensive studies to ascertain the global impact of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption on Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Professor Lennert Veerman from Griffith’s School of Medicine and Dentistry was part of the international team which assessed 184 countries and their SSB consumption, which includes commercial or homemade beverages, soft drinks, energy drinks, fruit drinks, punch, lemonade and aguas frescas.

“The result show that in 2020, 2.2 million cases of diabetes and 1.2 million cases of cardiovascular disease were attributable to the consumption of SSBs,” Professor Veerman said.

“That constitutes ten per cent of diabetes cases and three per cent of cardiovascular disease cases.

“Alarmingly, SSB consumption contributed to the deaths of 80,000 who had diabetes, and to the deaths of 250,000 people who had cardiovascular disease.
“We’re seeing a rapid rise in SSB consumption in low- and middle-income countries.”

The research found Latin America, the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa had the greatest rates of diabetes and cardiovascular disease due to SSBs.

While Australia sits in the middle of the pack, there is still a sizeable number of cases of diabetes, heart disease and stroke which can be attributed to the consumption of SSBs.

This global research has prompted calls for effective interventions to be introduced, similar to those implemented for tobacco including taxes, marketing regulations, front-of-package warnings and education campaigns.

While Australia is leading the way on tobacco control, Professor Veerman said more can be done to educate the community on the health impacts of sugar-laden drinks.
“Urgent action is needed to prevent needless disease and death, starting with a tax on SSBs to discourage overconsumption, and encourage the industry to produce and market healthier drinks,” Professor Veerman said.

The paper Burdens of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease attributable to sugar-sweetened beverages in 184 countries was published in Nature Medicine.