This research is one of the largest attempts to assess how the spread of western eating habits is affecting global health.

Published in the journal Nature, the study found that sugary drinks were linked to 2.2 million additional cases of type-2 diabetes and 1.2 million cases of cardiovascular disease in 2020, with a disproportionate share of those cases concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.

Those two continents have also experienced the biggest jump in the consumption of soft drinks in recent years as manufacturers, faced with declining sales in North America and Europe, have sought new customers in the developing world.

“The estimated death toll of 340,000 is a significant increase from previous assessments of how sugar-sweetened drinks affect global health,” the New York Times has reported about the study.

Previously, a 2015 study published in the journal Circulation estimated 184,000 deaths worldwide in 2010 from sugary drink consumption.