Meat And Cancer â Country Comparisons
Published on: May 6th, 2012
Article by: Anthony Wilson
Filed under: Cancer Risk Factors, Food & Drink, Statistics
Most scientists agree that a high intake of meat, particularly red meat, increases an individuals risk of developing certain forms of cancer however there is uncertainty over the extent of the link between the two. Comparing cancer rates and meat consumption across different countries provides some interesting insight on the link between meat consumption and cancer. The table below shows the ten countries with the highest and lowest levels of meat consumption per capita.
Clearly high meat consuming countries have higher cancer rates than countries with low meat consumption however the association is complicated by the fact that high meat consuming countries also tend to be high income countries.
High income countries generally have higher cancer rates than low income countries. There are a variety of reasons for this, many unrelated to meat consumption. For example smoking, obesity, and a sedentary lifestyle, are all risk factors for cancer that are more prevalent in high income countries than in developing countries. Furthermore, many cases of cancer go undetected in low-income countries due to a lack of screening programs and poor access to healthcare facilities.
The graph below shows cancer incidence and meat intake after adjustment for GDP per capita. Countries to the right of the vertical axis have higher than expected levels of meat consumption given their income while countries above the horizontal axis have higher than expected cancer rates given their income level.
Meat consumption and cancer risk adjusted for income
http://healthhubs.net/cancer/meat-and-cancer-country-comparisons/
interesting article you need to go the web site to look at the graphs.
