Nutrition in the aetiology of diseases

Abstract

The aetiology of many human diseases includes the consequence of environmental factors. Until recently, infection was the major cause of premature mortality in the developing countries, but this is changing. When the gross national product per capita in a country becomes greater than $1200 per annum then the proportion of deaths from cardiovascular disease increases sharply. Equally, the proportion of deaths from cancer increases progressively as the gross national product per capita increases. The proportion of animal fat in the diet also increases progressively with increasing gross national product.