Obesity, the CDC says that “obesity costs the US healthcare system almost $173 billion a year,” and even before physical activity, diet is shown as the primary risk factor for obesity, stating that “fewer than 1 in 10 children and adults eat the recommended daily amount of vegetables.“
According to the World Health Organization, in 2019 alone being overweight contributed to an “estimated 5 million deaths from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers, neurological disorders, chronic respiratory diseases, and digestive disorders.“
Other concerning news from the WHO is that “In 2022, 37 million children under the age of 5 were overweight,” and “over 390 million children and adolescents aged 5–19 years were overweight in 2022, including 160 million who were living with obesity.” This is very alarming—see how being obese while pregnant can increase the chances of having obese children by more than 50%!
Below is some of the research I’ve found so far.
Key Takeaways
- Diet can cause cancer, CVD, diabetes, and more diseases:
Dietary risks “accounted for 529,299 deaths in 2016, with 83.9% of these deaths due to cardiovascular diseases” the rest due to a combination of cancers, diabetes, urogenital, blood, and endocrine diseases.- Plant-Based Diets Prevent & Treat Obesity
“adoption of PBDs [Plant-Based Diets] for preventing overweight and obesity and promoting weight loss.”
Table of Contents
Obesity
Death & Disease
Dietary Risk Factors for Disease [2018, Apr]
A Systematic Analysis of: 26 years of peer-reviewed published studies.
This chart shows that diet was the leading cause of death in 2016, beating out: smoking, high blood pressure, high glucose, and even high cholesterol! The cause of death from diet is shown as a result of Diabetes, urogenital (including cancers & fertility issues), blood, and endocrine (glandular) diseases, as well as cardiovascular diseases and cancers.(Red highlight and text overlay added for clarity).
“Diet, tobacco use, and high systolic blood pressure were the leading causes of deaths while tobacco use, high body mass index, and diet were the leading risk factors for DALYs. For example, dietary risks accounted for 529,299 deaths in 2016, with 83.9% of these deaths due to cardiovascular diseases, and the remainder due to a combination of neoplasms [cancers] and diabetes, and to urogenital, blood, and endocrine diseases.”
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5933332/
Prevention & Treatment Diets
Plant-Based Diet for Overweight and Obesity Prevention and Treatment [2017, May]
A Peer-Review Study of: more than 40 clinical trials and observational research.
“Both clinical trials and observational research indicate an advantage to adoption of PBDs [Plant-Based Diets] for preventing overweight and obesity and promoting weight loss. PBDs may also confer higher levels of diet quality than are observed with other therapeutic diet approaches, with similar levels of adherence and acceptability.”
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5466943/
Plant-Based Diet for Obesity Treatment [2022, Sep]
A Peer-Reviewed Study of: more than 50 Randomized Control Trials and other peer-reviewed sources
“PBD [Plant-Based Diet] is a beneficial approach to improving health, particularly in obese patients. Benefits include weight loss, improved cardiovascular health, lower blood pressure, and improved glucose metabolism.”
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9493195/