Study on Sugar Consumption by Credit Suisse Research Institute Highlights Worldwide Healthcare Cost

Feb 06, 2014 EST

Sugar may be sweet, but excess consumption leaves a bitter aftertaste: millions of people worldwide are affected by type II diabetes or obesity, costing the global healthcare system billions of dollars every year. As the Credit Suisse Research Institute's 2013 study "Sugar: Consumption at a Crossroad" found, close to 90 percent of general practitioners in the US, Europe and Asia believe excess sugar consumption is linked to the sharp growth in these health problems. 

Close to 400 million people worldwide are affected by type II diabetes - a number that is quickly rising. Not only damaging for the health of individuals, the associated costs for the global healthcare system are estimated at a staggering 376 billion US dollars every year, representing over 10 percent of all healthcare costs. If things don't change, the number of people affected could be close to 500 million by 2020, and costs could rise to a whopping 700 billon US dollars. 

The Credit Suisse Research Institute's 2013 study "Sugar: Consumption at a Crossroad" found that close to 90 percent of general practitioners in the US, Europe and Asia believe that the sharp growth in type II diabetes and the current obesity epidemic are strongly linked to excess sugar consumption. "Although causality is difficult to prove in this area, with such a high percentage of respondents in our survey confident of this strong link we could not ignore the reality and the implications," Stefano Natella, Head of Global Equity Research at Credit Suisse and an author of the study, says.