Omega-3 Deficiency in the Diet Caused More Than One Million Deaths in 2013

Insufficient intake of Omega-3 represents one of the leading risk factors for death and years of life lost due to diseases worldwide. A diet poor in EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) caused, in fact, more than one million deaths in 2013. These are some of the data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013, the new worldwide report on diseases and mortality.

In an article published in the prestigious journal The Lancet in 2015, researchers from research centers around the world released some of the results concerning the main risk factors for global population health emerging from the 2013 report. The GBD assessed the impact of diseases in terms of mortality and disability, using specific indices including DALY (Disability-Adjusted Life Years), which expresses the number of years of life lost due to illness, disability, or premature death. The data reported by The Lancet in recent months focus on identifying health risk factors, particularly those modifiable through appropriate behaviors, facilitating the identification of emerging threats to the population and opportunities for prevention.

Deficiency of Fruits, Vegetables and Omega-3: Cause of Millions of Deaths Every Year

According to the data emerging from the study, behavioral, environmental, occupational, and metabolic risks account for half of global mortality and more than one third of years of life lost. In particular, this new report identifies risk factors that caused more than 5% of DALYs. Data collected from 188 countries revealed that in 2013, risks related to inadequate dietary behaviors were responsible for 10.4 million deaths and 241.4 million years of life lost.

Risk factors vary across regions and countries as well as over time. Maternal and child malnutrition caused 1.7 million deaths and 176.9 million years of life lost, being very common in sub-Saharan Africa. Globally, among behavioral risks, notable ones include childhood undernutrition, insufficient fruit consumption, low intake of whole grains, iron deficiency, insufficient breastfeeding, low intake of vegetables, nuts and seeds, omega-3 deficiency, low fiber intake, and vitamin A deficiency. In addition to highlighting insufficient omega-3 intake among the top 25 risk factors globally for death and DALYs, researchers estimated that EPA and DHA deficiency caused 1.03 million deaths and 22.4 million years of life lost in 2013.

In the same year, other dietary risk factors contributing to global deaths were diets low in fruit (3.413 million), whole grains (2.049 million), and vegetables (1.782 million), followed by childhood undernutrition (1.327 million), low intake of nuts and seeds (1.195 million), and diets poor in fiber (1.009 million).

Confirmation of the Importance of a Diet Rich in Omega-3

The research thus emphasizes the importance of omega-3 for health, and the authors acknowledge the benefits of consuming 200-300 milligrams of omega-3 daily through adequate fish intake. The beneficial action of EPA and DHA is mainly due to their ability to reduce blood triglyceride levels and protect cardiovascular health. In this regard, a report published a few months ago in JAMA showed that, in the United States alone, nearly 4 billion dollars in coronary disease treatment costs could be saved if adults over 55 increased their omega-3 intake between 2013 and 2020.

Sources: GBD 2013 Risk Factors Collaborators. Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks in 188 countries, 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. 2015 Lancet doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00128-2 Frost & Sullivan’s Report – Smart Prevention – Health Care Cost Savings Resulting from the Targeted Use of Dietary Supplements. Fish oil supplements. 2015 JAMA doi: 10.1001/jama.2014.9578 *) Adam Ismail is president of the GOED Omega-3 association