Wrong Kind of Diet Called a Factor in 35% of Cancer Deaths : Study Says You Can Eat Your Way to Health
The American diet is lousy and people are dying because of it.
That’s the conclusion of a long-term study by the National Cancer Institute of what Americans eat and don’t eat during a typical day.
“We really need to change the way we eat,” said Gladys Block, an NCI scientist and co-author of a study published this month in the American Journal of Public Health. “I really believe that could make a difference in the amount of cancer we have.”
Americans are not eating enough fruits, vegetables, whole-grain breads and high-fiber cereals. They are eating more fat and more salt-cured, nitrite-cured, smoked and pickled meat, all dietary elements that can affect health.
In effect, said Blossom Patterson, a co-author of the study, Americans are forgetting the lessons they should have learned as children at the family dining table.
“It’s not really a new message,” said Patterson. “This is the same theme that mothers have been playing for a long, long time. Eat your vegetables and fruits.”
And, says the NCI, if you eat as your mommies told you, you may live longer.
The study said that improper diets are estimated to contribute to 35% of all cancer deaths.
Block said that the right foods have been shown to help prevent cancers of the stomach, colon, rectum, breast, oral cavity and esophagus. Statistics released earlier this year show that all of these types of cancer have increased in frequency. Block said the message is that to eat well may mean to live longer. And she said Americans simply aren’t doing that.
Many Eat No Fruit
In interviews with more than 11,000 people, researchers from the NCI and Department of Agriculture found that:
- On a typical day, 40% of Americans do not eat a single fruit, and 20% have no vegetable.
- Only about 49% of Americans include “garden vegetables” (vegetables other than potatoes or salad) in their daily diet.
- More than 80% of those surveyed ate no high-fiber cereals or whole-grain breads.
- Daily fiber intake, from whole grains or from vegetables such as corn or dried peas and beans, averaged about 11 grams. The recommended amount is 20 to 30 grams daily.
- More than 40% of those surveyed ate at least one serving of lunch meat or bacon daily. These are foods high in fat and salt, and may be smoked or cured with nitrites.
Women, generally, had a better diet than men, and people over age 55 usually had better diets than young adults, said Block.
“Even so, all groups showed a dramatic need for improvement, with consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains falling far short of desirable levels,” she said.
In a racial breakdown of the data, Patterson said the survey showed that black people ate more vegetables than did whites, largely due to a higher consumption of greens, such as collards. Whites, however, ate more whole-grain breads and high-fiber cereals.
Income also plays a role, she said. Those with higher incomes tended to eat more fruits and vegetables, along with more red meat.
By region, more people ate poultry and fish in the South and Northeast than in the West and Midwest, and red meat consumption was lowest in the South. High-fiber cereal consumption was highest in the Northeast and West, and lowest in the South.
The survey data was collected between 1976 and 1980, but Block said that preliminary studies of more recent surveys show that there has been little change.
