Nutritional risk factors related to non-communicable diseases in the world

Year 2026, Volume: 40 Issue: 1, 1 - 14, 28.01.2026

Raife Kotzaoglan

https://doi.org/10.18614/dehm.1873505

Abstract

The global burden of non-communicable diseases is increasing, with unhealthy diets being a key contributing factor. The Western diet, which is now widespread due to technology, food industry practices, and globalization, conflicts with the dietary principles of the World Health Organization. Consisting of high-calorie, nutrient-poor foods, it contributes to increased mortality and morbidity related to non-communicable diseases. This review examines the links between nutrition-related risk factors and non-communicable diseases by searchingthe PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, as well as the World Health Organization and United Nations reports. The emphasis was placed on recent, authoritative sources, with data collected from January 2024 to August 2025 and updated based on reviewer feedback.

Keywords

Healthy dietary pattern , non-communicable diseases , nutrition , nutritional risk factors , western diet

References

• 1. World Health Organization (Internet). Noncommunicable diseases. (Access Date: 5 January 2024) Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/noncommunicable-diseases.
• 2. Budreviciute A, Damiati S, Sabir DK, Onder K, Schuller-Goetzburg P, Plakys G, et al. Management and Prevention Strategies for Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) and Their Risk Factors. Front Public Health. 2020;8:574111.
• 3. Omran AR. The epidemiologic transition theory revisited thirty years later. World health statistics quarterly. 1998;53(2, 3, 4):99-119.
• 4. PAHO (Internet). Noncommunicable Diseases. (Access Date: 5 January 2024) Available form: https://www.paho.org/en/topics/noncommunicable-diseases.
• 5. National Center for Biotechnology Information. MeSH (Internet). Non-communicable diseases (Access Date: 17 January 2024) Available form: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/?term=non-communicable+disease.
• 6. Adjaye-Gbewonyo K, Vaughan M. Reframing NCDs? An analysis of current debates. Glob Health Action. 2019;12(1):1641043.
• 7. Ackland M, Choi BC, Puska P. Rethinking the terms non-communicable disease and chronic disease. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2003;57(11):838-9.
• 8. Habib SH, Saha S. Burden of non-communicable disease: global overview. Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews. 2010;4(1):41-7.
• 9. Boutayeb A, Boutayeb S. The burden of non communicable diseases in developing countries. International journal for equity in health. 2005;4:1-8.
• 10. World Bank Group (Internet). Responding to the Challenge of Non-Communicable Diseases. (Access Date: 17 January 2024) Available form: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/208501570807014679/Responding-to-the-Challenge-of-Non-Communicable-Diseases.
• 11. World Health Organization (Internet). Global health estimates: Leading causes of death: (Access Date: 2 February 2024) Available form: https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/mortality-and-global-health-estimates/ghe-leading-causes-of-death.
• 12. Our World In Data ‘Internet). Burden of Disease. (Access Date: 2 February 2024) Available form: https://ourworldindata.org/burden-of-disease.
• 13. World Health Organization (Internet). Global health estimates: Leading causes of DALYs: (Access Date: 5 March 2024) Available form: https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/mortality-and-global-health-estimates/global-health-estimates-leading-causes-of-dalys.
• 14. Global Health Estimates 2020: Disease burden by Cause, Age, Sex, by Country and by Region, 2000-2019. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020.
• 15. Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) (Internet). GBD Compare Data Visualization. (Access Date: 5 March 2024) Available form: https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-compare/
• 16. UNDP (United Nations Development Programme). 2024. Human Development Report 2023-24: Breaking the gridlock: Reimagining cooperation in a polarized world. New York.
• 17. OECD Library (Internet). Health Risks. (Access Date: 5 March 2024) Available form: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/health-risks/indicator-group/english_1c4df204-en.
• 18. Invisible numbers: the true extent of noncommunicable diseases and what to do about them. World Health Organization; 2022.
• 19. World Health Organization. Noncommunicable diseases progress monitor 2025. World Health Organization; 2025 Jun 5.
• 20. T.C. Sağlık Bakanlığı Halk Sağlığı Genel Müdürlüğü (Kronik Hastalıklar ve Yaşlı Sağlığı Daire Başkanlığı). Türkiye Hanehalkı Sağlık Araştırması: Bulaşıcı Olmayan Hastalıkların Risk Faktörleri Prevalansı 2017-2023 Çalışmalarının Karşılaştırılması. Sağlık Bakanlığı Yayın No: 1306. Ankara: Halk Sağlığı Genel Müdürlüğü; 2025.
• 21. Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Health. Multisectoral Action Plan of Türkiye for Noncommunicable Diseases 2017–2025. Ministry of Health Publication No. 1057. Ankara; 2017.
• 22. World Health Organization. STEPwise approach to NCD risk factor surveillance (STEPS) (Internet). Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025 (Access date: 2025 Aug 10). Available from: https://www.who.int/teams/noncommunicable-diseases/surveillance/systems-tools/steps.
• 23. World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. Türkiye completes national household survey on noncommunicable disease risk factors (Internet). Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025 May 28 (Access date: 2025 Aug 10). Available from: WHO Regional Office for Europe news release.
• 24. Neufeld LM, Hendriks S, Hugas M. Healthy Diet: A Definition for the United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021. In: von Braun J, Afsana K, Fresco LO, Hassan MHA, editors. Science and Innovations for Food Systems Transformation. Cham (CH): Springer Copyright 2023, The Author(s). 2023. p. 21-30.
• 25. World Health Organization (Internet). Malnutrition. (Access Date: 7 March 2024) Available form: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malnutrition.
• 26. World Health Organization. Sustainable healthy diets: Guiding principles. Food & Agriculture Org.; 2019 Oct 15.
• 27. Ncd Alliance (Internet). Diet related non communicable diseases. [Access Date: 18 March 2024]. Available form: https://ncdalliance.org/why-ncds/risk-factors-prevention/unhealthy-diets-and-malnutrition.
• 28. Institute For Health Metrics and Evaluation (Internet). Diet. (Access Date: 18 March 2024). Available form: https://www.healthdata.org/research-analysis/health-risks-issues/diet.
• 29. Our World in Data (Internet). Deaths by risk factor, World, 2019. [Access Date: 31 May 2024]. Available form: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/number-of-deaths-by-risk-factor?time=latest.
• 30. Qiao J, Lin X, Wu Y, Huang X, Pan X, Xu J, et al. Global burden of non-communicable diseases attributable to dietary risks in 1990-2019. J Hum Nutr Diet. 2022;35(1):202-13.
• 31. Wang F, Mubarik S, Zhang Y, Shi W, Yu C. Risk assessment of dietary factors in global pattern of ischemic heart disease mortality and disability-adjusted life years over 30 years. Front Nutr. 2023;10:1151445.
• 32. Stanaway JD, Afshin A, Ashbaugh C, Bisignano C, Brauer M, Ferrara G, et al. Health effects associated with vegetable consumption: a Burden of Proof study. Nature medicine. 2022;28(10):2066-74.
• 33. World Health Organization; (Internet). Healthy Diet.[Access Date: 31 May 2024] Available form: https://www.who.int/health-topics/healthy-diet.
• 34. Sánchez-Villegas A, Marchínez-Lapiscina EH. A healthy diet for your heart and your brain. 2018.