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A team led by Professor Anna Gilmore, head of the 21st Century Public Health Center at the University of Bath in the UK, released these findings.
“To truly understand the impact, we need to look at the scale of the damage caused by tobacco, alcohol, unhealthy food, and fossil fuels. We estimate that these four factors account for between one-third and two-thirds of all deaths worldwide,” Gilmore said. In 2021, 19 out of 56 million deaths globally were linked to these factors.
Tobacco
According to the study, smoking (including secondhand smoke) and chewing tobacco collectively kill more people than any other factor. Gilmore said two out of three cigarette smokers die prematurely. Smoking raises the risk of cancer, heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, blood clots, and respiratory diseases.
Tobacco is responsible for about 20 percent of non-communicable disease deaths each year. The university team’s research revealed that in Europe alone, tobacco kills 1.15 million people annually.
Alcohol
Alcohol also contributes to a high number of deaths. Each year, 2.44 million people worldwide die from alcohol-related causes, about 4.4 percent of non-communicable disease deaths, the Daily Mail reported.
Alcohol is a major factor in accidental and injury-related deaths as well. Researchers estimate that alcohol is the primary factor in roughly 7 percent of all injury-related deaths.
Food
This may seem surprising, but diet is a more common cause of premature death than alcohol. In 2021, 5.4 percent of all deaths worldwide were linked to dietary risks — more than three million people. Those risks come mainly from diets high in processed meats, salt, sugary drinks, and trans fats.
Excessive salt consumption accounts for the largest number of diet-related deaths, followed by products high in processed meats. Poor nutrition drives chronic conditions such as obesity, high blood pressure, strokes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers.
Gilmore pointed out that manufacturers of unhealthy food products often design them to be more appealing and addictive to consumers.
Fossil Fuels
Air pollution from particulate matter produced by burning fossil fuels poses a serious health threat. Long-term exposure to polluted air leads to cardiovascular and respiratory disease as well as lung cancer.
New research shows that air pollution causes about 8.34 million deaths globally each year, primarily due to heart and lung disease.
According to WHO estimates, in Europe — where air pollution levels are lower — burning fossil fuels results in approximately 580,000 deaths annually.
