Sugar-sweetened beverages, including fizzy drinks, fruit drinks and sports drinks, may be responsible for up to 180,000 deaths worldwide every year, new research suggests.

According to US scientists, sugary drinks, which are extremely popular, can lead to excess weight gain, which can in turn increase the risk of certain conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease.

They decided to investigate this further by calculating the quantities of sugary drink consumption worldwide by age and gender. They also looked at the effects of this consumption on diabetes and obesity, including deaths relating to these conditions.

Through their calculations, the scientists were able to link the consumption of these drinks to 133,000 diabetes deaths, 44,000 heart disease deaths and 6,000 deaths from cancer. At least three in four of these deaths were in low and middle-income countries.

The study found that among the country's 15 most populous countries, Mexico had the highest death rate related to these drinks. Mexico currently has one of the highest sugary drink consumption rates in the world.

The lowest death rate linked to these drinks was found in Japan. Japanese people currently have one of the lowest sugary drink consumption rates in the world.

"Because we were focused on deaths due to chronic diseases, our study focused on adults. Future research should assess the amount of sugary beverage consumption in children across the world and how this affects their current and future health," the scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health said.

Details of these findings were presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism 2013 Scientific Sessions.