Abstract
The relationship between food intake and cancer of the large bowel was assessed by calculating the average intakes of foods, nutrients and dietary fibre in the different regions of Great Britain and relating these to the regional pattern of death from colon and rectal cancers between 1969 and 1973. No significant associations were found with the consumption of fat, animal protein or beer, nor with current estimates of total dietary fibre intake. Average intakes of the pentose fraction of total dietary fibres, and of vegetables other than potatoes, were negatively correlated with the truncated age- and sex-standardized death rates from colon cancer (r = -0.960 and -0.940). Specific components of dietary fibre may therefore inhibit colon carcinogenesis.
Highlights
Summary.-The relationship between food intake and cancer of the large bowel was assessed by calculating the average intakes of foods, nutrients and dietary fibre in the different regions of Great Britain and relating these to the regional pattern of death from colon and rectal cancers between 1969 and 1973
Large-bowel cancer is rare in Japan, but incidence rates in first and secondgeneration Japanese migrants to the U.S.A. increase to match those of the adopted country (Haenszel & Kurihara, 1968)
The hypothesis that dietary fibre protects against large-bowel cancer (Burkitt et al, 1972) was not supported by international comparison of food supplies and cancer deaths (Drasar & Irving, 1973)
Summary
The Registrar General's standard regions for England, Wales and Scotland were used for this investigation. Dietary data.-Intake of foods and nutrients per person was obtained for each region from the published reports of the National Food Survey for the years 1969 to 1973 (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, 19711975) and regional averages for this period were calculated. Sample of the 1971 Census (Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, 1971) social class III being divided into non-manual and manual groups. These proportions were combined into a single value, the "social class index" (SCI) for each region, by calculating a weighted average with social class I to V given values from 6 to 1. The greater the number of individuals assigned to classes I, II and III non-manual, the higher the value of SCI
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
