A DIET high in fruit and vegetables and low in fat may be seen as the panacea for all ills, but research questions its effectiveness in tackling some of the deadliest diseases in women.

Three studies, as part of the Women’s Health Initiative study in the United States and involving 50,000 post-menopausal women, indicate that eating at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day and low-fat foods does not reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes and breast and bowel cancers.

The women, who were tracked for more than eight years, showed little evidence of greater disease protection from cutting back on fat — despite theories of the dramatic impact that this can have on health.

The studies, published yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggest that a healthy diet may have to be followed more rigorously and for longer to reap possible benefits against cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Researchers asked more than 19,500 women aged 50 to 79 to take up a more healthy diet, while the eating habits of another group of 29,300 women remained unchanged.

The expected impact on rates of breast and bowel cancer and heart disease did not materialise. A 9 per cent reduction in breast cancer incidence indicated that out of 10,000 women, 42 in the low-fat group and 45 in the control group developed the disease each year.

Overall rates of colo-rectal, or bowel, cancer were not lowered by the healthier diet, but reducing fat consumption did produce a 9 per cent decrease in colon polyps, which can lead to colon cancer. Nor was there any significant reduction in heart-disease risk among the women eating less fat. Rates of heart disease fell by 3 per cent, and blood levels of “bad” cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, dropped by only 2.4 per cent.

The researchers said that the importance of different types of fat was not recognised when the investigation started, so the women were merely asked to reduce total fat consumption.

ACTIVELY HAPPY

A Sainsbury’s study of 2,238 children, parents and teachers which was commissioned for the launch of the Active Kids scheme found that:

• Four out of ten children never exercise or do so only once a week
  
• Youngsters who get regular exercise are 20 per cent happier than those who shun physical activity
  
• The children who did no exercise were four times more likely to rate themselves as unhappy and five times more likely to have few or no friends
  
• Parents were the most important influence on fitness: 72 per cent of children questioned said that, if their mothers and fathers exercised more, they would do, too

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