According to the American Medical Association, what is the #1 cause of preventable death in the United States in 2016?

• A. Heart disease
• B. Genetic factors
• C. Dietary risks
• D. Lack of exercise

Answer: (C)

Focusing on what we eat as a major, changeable factor explains why dietary risks are identified as the top preventable cause of death. In 2016 the AMA highlighted that poor diet—not a single disease or purely one behavior—drives more deaths that could be prevented if people ate healthier. Diet influences many conditions at once: high sodium can raise blood pressure, excess saturated fat and cholesterol contribute to heart disease, insufficient fruits and vegetables can lower protective nutrients, processed meats and red meat are linked to certain cancers, and too much sugar and overall excess calories lead to obesity, diabetes, and related complications. Because these dietary patterns affect multiple diseases, the total number of deaths that could be avoided by improving diet exceeds the deaths from any other single preventable factor.

Genetic factors aren’t something you can change, and while lack of exercise matters, the broad impact of dietary patterns across various diseases makes dietary risks the most impactful preventable cause.