A reappraisal of the impact of dairy foods and milk fat on cardiovascular disease risk

Background This review provides a reappraisal of the potential effects of dairy foods, including dairy fats, on cardiovascular disease (CVD)/coronary heart disease (CHD) risk. Commodities and foods containing saturated fats are of particular focus as current public dietary recommendations are directed toward reducing the intake of saturated fats as a means to improve the overall health of the population. A conference of scientists from different perspectives of dietary fat and health was convened in order to consider the scientific basis for these recommendations. Aims This review and summary of the conference focus on four key areas related to the biology of dairy foods and fats and their potential impact on human health: (a) the effect of dairy foods on CVD in prospective cohort studies; (b) the impact of dairy fat on plasma lipid risk factors for CVD; (c) the effects of dairy fat on non-lipid risk factors for CVD; and (d) the role of dairy products as essential contributors of micronutrients in reference food patterns for the elderly. Conclusions Despite the contribution of dairy products to the saturated fatty acid composition of the diet, and given the diversity of dairy foods of widely differing composition, there is no clear evidence that dairy food consumption is consistently associated with a higher risk of CVD. Thus, recommendations to reduce dairy food consumption irrespective of the nature of the dairy product should be made with cautionJ. Bruce German, Robert A. Gibson, Ronald M. Krauss, Paul Nestel, Benoît Lamarche, Wija A. van Staveren, Jan M. Steijns, Lisette C. P. G. M. de Groot, Adam L. Lock and Frédéric Destaillat

WHO recognition of the global obesity epidemic.

The recognition of obesity as a disease was in theory established in 1948 by WHO's (World Health Organization) taking on the International Classification of Diseases but the early highlighting of the potential public health problem in the United States and the United Kingdom 35 years ago was considered irrelevant elsewhere. The medical profession disregarded obesity as important despite the new evidence and WHO data set out in the 1980s. Only in 1995 did WHO find greater problems of overweight than underweight in many developing countries but it required the first special obesity consultation in 1997 and particularly the Millennium burden of disease analyses to suddenly highlight its crucial role in the current unmanageable and escalating medical costs globally. Governments now recognize the overwhelming industrial developments that guarantee an escalating epidemic but neither they nor WHO know how to engage in changing the societal framework to promote routine spontaneous physical activity and a transformation of the food system so that low energy-density food of high nutrient quality becomes the norm