Intake of Trans-fatty acids (TFA) over 1% of total dietary energy per day is associated with an increased risk of ischemic heart disease events and mortality. Worldwide in 2019, 645 thousand ischemic heart disease deaths were attributable to diets high in trans-fatty acids, and 109 thousand occurred in the Region of the Americas.
This interactive data visualization presents annual estimates of the mean daily intake of trans-fatty acids (from all sources, mainly partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and ruminant products) in adults aged 25 years and over at the population level by age, sex, and location (region, subregions, and countries and territories) of the Region of the Americas from 1990 to 2019.
Key findings
In the Region of the Americas, the mean trans-fatty acids (TFA) intake in adults aged 25 years and older was estimated to be 0.98% of total energy intake per day in 2019, with no differences between men and women. This estimate varied across subregions from 0.2% of total energy intake/day in the non-Latin Caribbean to 1.17% in North America.
Mean TFA intake in adults varied across countries and territories of the Americas ranging from 1.7% of total energy/day in the United States of America to 0.21% in the Dominican Republic. Two countries of the region, the United States of the Americas, and Canada had mean TFA intake over 1% of total energy intake per day, representing, on average, a high risk of ischemic heart disease events and mortality.
Regionally, the trend in mean TFA intake is characterized by three different time segments. First, it slightly declined from 1.3% of total energy/day in 1990 to 1.2% in 2005, followed by a decade (2006-2015) where it drastically dropped reaching 1.0% in 2015, and then a period (2016-2019) when it stagnated at about 1.0% of total energy/day. It is projected that regional mean TFA slightly increases in the next decade (2020-2030).
In North America, including Canada and the United States, the subregion with the highest mean TFA intake (1.7% of total energy/day in 2019), it is projected that the mean TFA intake will increase to almost 1.3% by 2030.
Methods
The Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 (GBD 2019) Dietary Risk Exposure Estimates 1990-2019 (1) is the data source for this data brief and visualization. The GBD 2019 estimated the burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors for 204 countries and territories and selected subnational locations.
GBD 2019 produced estimates of 15 dietary risks from 1990 to 2019, including estimates of the mean daily intake of trans-fatty acids as a percentage of the total energy by year, sex, and 5-year age groups for age 25 and up, with an aggregated 25+ age group. These estimates are available in the GHDx repository at https://ghdx.healthdata.org/record/ihme-data/gbd-2019-dietary-risk-expo… (1)
Details on the primary data sources and the methods to estimate the mean daily intake of trans-fatty acids and other dietary risk factors are described in the scientific paper Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 (2).
References
- Global Burden of Disease Collaborative Network. Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 (GBD 2019) Dietary Risk Exposure Estimates 1990-2019. Seattle, United States of America: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), 2021. DOI https://doi.org/10.6069/CK3C-DY06
- GBD 2017 Diet Collaborators. Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. The Lancet 2019;393(10184):P1958-1072 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(19)30041-8
Suggested citation
Mean trans-fatty acids intake (% energy/day) in adults aged 25 years and older in the Region of the Americas, 1990-2019. ENLACE Data portal for Noncommunicable diseases and mental health. Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), 2023. [Internet] Available online at https://www.paho.org/en/enlace/trans-fatty-acid-intake-adults-populatio…;