by Dr Carrie
Ruxton
The Meat Advisory Panel recently conducted some research with
healthcare professionals to find out their views about red meat in the diet,
and to determine what advice should be given to patients about including red
meat in their diets. Here's a snapshot of the survey findings.
Four out of five healthcare professionals expressed a favourable view
about the contribution red meat makes to a balanced diet and, when asked about
meat intake levels, 46% didn’t think people were eating too much and most
thought the right approach was to persuade people to switch from processed
meats to leaner, fresh cuts of red meat.
Given the number of ‘scaremongering’ media reports when it comes to red
meat, it was encouraging to see that 94% of respondents would not change their
diet or patient advice on the basis of media coverage of red meat. Of these,
two in five said that they would pay no attention while over half said they
would check out the evidence before taking a decision.
A large majority (70%)
also told us that they were sceptical about claims that red meat causes
conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. This opinion corresponds with
the Meat Advisory Panel’s view, given that most of the studies reporting
associations between red meat intake and disease risk or mortality, arise from
the US where meat consumption is far higher than in the UK.
The studies also do
not correct adequately for other factors that can influence disease risk, such
as high intakes of fat and alcohol, low physical activity levels, or low
intakes of fruit, vegetables and fibre. Overall, there is no credible evidence
that red meat causes heart disease and, indeed, lean red meat is a source of
selenium and vitamin D which have been associated with reduced risk of chronic conditions
such as heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes.
Navigating through confusion
One area of concern
was the general agreement from healthcare professionals that patients are
confused about the differences between lean red meat and processed meat. This
is a key point with regard to media articles about meat as many studies
actually involve high intakes of processed meat, which tend to be higher in
salt and fat, rather than healthier lean red meats. Often this is not made
clear in the resulting press stories which adds to patients’ confusion about
whether lean red meat is a healthy choice (it is!).
When looking at the
role lean red meat has to play in the diet, healthcare professionals recognised
that the ‘reduce meat’ message wasn’t appropriate for everyone. When asked who
should be advised to eat more red meat, they suggested vulnerable groups at
risk from low nutrient intakes, such as those at risk of iron deficient (66%),
children and teenagers (28%), pregnant women (22%) and elderly people (22%). Less than 35% would not advise an increase for
any groups and over 23% would not advise any groups to eat less meat.
Public Health advice
Healthcare
professionals have an important role in helping patients navigate conflicting
information about red meat in the diet and, given the results from our research,
it appears that healthcare professionals consider lean red meat to be very much
a friend in a balanced diet.
Let us know what you
think about the role lean red meat has to play in the nation’s health. Do you
think it is an important part of a patient’s diet?
If you are a
healthcare professional, what do you think of the findings? Do you provide diet
advice to patients? Do you advise them about their red meat intake? Email Jonathon.Falcone@nexuspr.com
with your thoughts.
