51动漫

IF YOU want to eat a healthy diet but find the whole business of checking lists of ingredients and counting grams of fat too complicated, a government report published this week makes it easier. The report, written by eminent nutritionists, lays down an 鈥渆xample diet鈥�, which shows how easy it would be to eat healthily without making drastic changes to your lifestyle or giving up the traditional British diet.

The report, Nutritional aspects of cardiovascular disease, led to widespread controversy when parts of it were leaked three months ago. It has been widely welcomed by health educationalists, consumer groups and the medical profession, but condemned by sections of the food industry, which accuse the government of trying to tell people what they should and should not eat.

Britain has one of the world鈥檚 highest rates of death from heart disease, and medical research suggests that the country鈥檚 high consumption of fat is partly to blame. Fat accounts for 42 per cent of the energy in the average British diet.

Like previous reports from the government鈥檚 Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy, this latest offering repeats warnings that the British diet contains too much fat, salt and sugar, and not enough starchy carbohydrate and fibre (This Week, 13 July 1991).

But this report goes a step further, with COMA鈥檚 Cardiovascular Review Group showing how these nutritional deficiencies can be corrected by small changes in eating habits. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an example of what the national diet might look like if nutritional targets were met,鈥� says Michael Marmot, the chairman of the review group.

The 鈥渆xample diet鈥� includes practical suggestions, such as halving the weekly consumption of buttered bread (from seven slices to three-and-a-half), but eating twice as many slices of bread spread with low-fat alternatives (see Table). This reduces fat intake while increasing the intake of starch and fibre. Another suggestion is to eat three egg-sized potatoes a day, one more than the present average, again to provide more 鈥済ood鈥� starch.FIG-mg19511201.jpg

The report also includes a table showing how much fat people can avoid by swapping one type of meal for another. For instance, a breakfast consisting of a bowl of cereal with semi-skimmed milk and two slices of toast covered with low-fat spread instead of two rashers of grilled bacon and a fried egg will 鈥渟ave鈥� 28 grams of fat.

Marmot stresses that the 鈥渆xample diet鈥� is not meant to be a prescription for individuals, although it may give some people ideas for rebalancing their diet. 鈥淚t gives a guide in a general sense, but it鈥檚 not a health education guide for individuals,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 for the government, the Health Education Authority and other bodies to translate it into dietary advice.鈥�

Health educationalists, consumer groups and representatives of the medical profession have hailed the report as a milestone. They expect it to play a major part in reducing diet-related disorders such as coronary heart disease, cancer and constipation.

鈥淭his is the moment that the science is translated into plain English,鈥� says Jack Winkler of the National Food Alliance, a lobby group for healthier eating. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to stop talking about proteins and carbohydrates, and talk instead about meat and vegetables.鈥�

But the manufacturers of biscuits, soft drinks, confectionery and processed foods are not happy with the report, which suggests a halving of the nation鈥檚 consumption of cakes, biscuits, soft drinks and chocolate.

The Food and Drink Federation, which represents manufacturers, says that the 鈥渆xample diet鈥� smacks of a directive from the 鈥渘anny state鈥�. Joanna Scott, spokeswoman for the federation, says that people can work out their own nutritional targets by reading the labels on packaging.

Marmot denies that the 鈥渆xample diet鈥� is a prescription for healthy eating. He says that it was produced to illustrate how COMA鈥檚 nutritional targets could be achieved easily and without radically altering traditional British eating patterns. 鈥淲e go to great lengths to say that there鈥檚 a vast number of ways to reach those targets,鈥� says Marmot.

Marmot was 鈥渃oncerned鈥� by newspaper reports that appeared in August after sections of the report were leaked. Most of the coverage echoed the industry鈥檚 view that COMA was trying to lay down a diet for the nation. The committee was ridiculed for telling people what they should eat, right down to the size and shape of the potatoes 鈥� a reference to the suggestion that three 鈥渆gg-sized鈥� potatoes a day would be better than two.

鈥淪ections of the food industry were attempting to discredit the report to stop it from being published,鈥� says Marmot. 鈥淲e would have expected industry to seize the opportunity to develop and promote new healthy foods.鈥�

Brian Pentecost, medical director of the British Heart Foundation, says that the example diet was meant to be illustrative, not prescriptive. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think ridicule is the basis for rational discussion, and it鈥檚 easy to caricature good advice if you want to,鈥� he says.

The food industry also criticised the science behind the advice. Michael Baxendine, health adviser to United Biscuits, claims that there is no scientific foundation for suggesting that people should reduce their intake of salt.

Marmot rejects these charges. 鈥淲e took evidence from 62 experts over three years, reviewed hundreds of papers, and went through several drafts,鈥� he says. 鈥淥ur report does not stand out as odd. Of 40 eminent committees which have published reports over the past six or seven years, more than 35 concluded that there was a link between salt and high blood pressure.鈥�