Dietary
Strategies for Cancer Prevention
Bal DG; Foerster SB.
Cancer, 1993 Aug 1, 72(3 Suppl):1005-10.
Abstract:
BACKGROUND
Two-thirds of cancer cases are associated with two lifestyle
practices:
 |
35% with the typical American diet |
|
30% with tobacco use |
In contrast to the field of tobacco control, research and resources dedicated to the field of nutrition have been limited, in part because dietary change has been considered controversial and requires a more complex set of interventions.
METHODS
This series of papers reviews the science base underlying diet as
a cancer control strategy, including research about diet-cancer
relationships, current nutrition policy recommendations, American
dietary trends, models of dietary behavior change, and diet in
health care delivery. The history of technology transfer of new
knowledge into widespread application will be compared and
contrasted with other cancer control measures.
RESULTS
There is scientific and policy agreement about three priority
dietary goals for the year 2000: increase fruit and vegetable
consumption to 5 or more servings every day, increase breads,
cereals, and legumes to 6 or more servings daily, and decrease
fat to no more than 30% of total calories. Current data do not
indicate that these goals will be reached. As yet there is no
organized effort, with clearly identified steps, to translate
research into practice. The parallel with delays in implementing
other cancer control measures, including Papanicolaou testing,
mammography, and tobacco intervention, is striking.
CONCLUSION
Without resources dedicated to dietary
modification in the general population, it is not likely that the
potential savings of more than 300,000 new cases, 160,000 deaths,
and the $25 billion in associated costs will be realized in the
foreseeable future.
