Research
Energy balance
Obesity and poor-quality diets are causing a decline in US life expectancy and an increase in mortality rates for chronic diseases, reversing decades of progress.
Recognize that preventing chronic disease and maintaining longevity requires addressing the root causes (diet quality and obesity) through policy and individual food choices, rather than relying solely on medical treatments for existing conditions.
LimitedSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provide new evidence in support of this prediction. Age-adjusted death rates for the first 9 months of 2015 increased significantly compared with the same period in 2014, most notably involving causes of death related to obesity.
Why this rating
Based on preliminary CDC data and ecological correlations with county-level mortality; not a controlled intervention study.
Source
Lifespan Weighed Down by Diet
David S. Ludwig · JAMA · 2016
DOI 10.1001/jama.2016.3829
narrative_reviewCited 56×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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