Red and Processed Meat Linked to Mortality

Eating red and processed meat is associated with increases in total mortality, cancer mortality, and cardiovascular disease mortality rates, according to the results of a large, prospective study. During 10 years of follow-up, 47,976 men and 23,276 women….

“High intakes of red or processed meat may increase the risk of mortality,” write Rashmi Sinha, PhD, from the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services in Rockville, Maryland, and colleagues. “Our objective was to determine the relations of red, white, and processed meat intakes to risk for total and cause-specific mortality.”

The National Institutes of Health–AARP Diet and Health Study enrolled approximately half a million people aged 50 to 71 years at baseline. A food frequency questionnaire administered at baseline allowed estimation of meat intake, and Cox proportional hazards regression models allowed calculation of hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) within quintiles of meat intake.

Red meat included all types of beef and pork such as bacon, beef, cold cuts, hamburgers, hotdogs, steak, and meats in pizza, lasagna, and stew. White meat included chicken, turkey, and fish along with poultry cold cuts, canned tuna, and low-fat hotdogs. Processed meats could include either red or white meats in the form of sandwich meats or cold cuts as well as bacon, red meat and poultry sausages, and regular hotdogs and low-fat hotdogs made from poultry. The authors note that some of the meats may overlap in the three categories, but they were not duplicated or used in the same models in the study analysis.

The models considered covariates of age, education, marital status, presence or absence of family history of cancer (for cancer mortality only), race, body mass index, smoking history, physical activity, energy intake, alcohol drinking, use of vitamin supplements, fruit consumption, vegetable consumption, and use of menopausal hormone therapy in women. Primary endpoints of the study were total mortality and deaths caused by cancer, cardiovascular disease, injury and sudden deaths, and all other causes.

During 10 years of follow-up, 47,976 men and 23,276 women died. Overall mortality risks were increased for men and women in the highest vs. the lowest quintile of red meat intake.  Men and women with higher intake also had increased risks for cancer mortality for red meat and processed meat.

Cardiovascular disease risk was increased for men and women in the highest quintile of intake of red meat and processed meat. For the highest vs. the lowest quintile of white meat intake for both men and women, there was an inverse association for total mortality, cancer mortality, and mortality from all other causes.

“Red and processed meat intakes were associated with modest increases in total mortality, cancer mortality, and cardiovascular disease mortality,” the study authors write. “In contrast, high white meat intake and a low-risk meat diet was associated with a small decrease in total and cancer mortality.”

“These results complement the recommendations by the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund to reduce red and processed meat intake to decrease cancer incidence,” the study authors write. “Future research should investigate the relation between subtypes of meat and specific causes of mortality.”

In an accompanying editorial, Barry M. Popkin, PhD, from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, discusses how the implications of reducing excessive meat intake would relate to several major global concerns.

“Of equal importance is the role of clinicians as public health advocates,” Dr. Popkin writes. “Far too few clinicians speak out on topics such as this. What the public hears is the side of the profession that is preaching vegetarian diets and not the side of the profession that is discussing moderation as a healthy option.”

Practice Pearls:

• Although some lower-income countries have increasing levels of meat and dairy consumption, the rate of consumption of these products is still 2 to 3 times higher among individuals in higher-income countries. The cost of beef has decreased worldwide in the last several decades, whereas the costs of grains and rice has increased during the last 6 years.
• In the current study, red meat and processed meat consumption were associated with higher rates of all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality. However, white meat consumption was associated with a lower risk for mortality.

Arch Intern Med. 2009;169:543-545, 562-571.

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DID YOU KNOW:  
Parents Struggle to Recognize Obesity, Overweight in their Children: A study suggests that parents may fail to recognize overweight or obesity in their children, United Press International reports. Based on a meta-analysis of studies pertaining to childhood overweight and parental perceptions, University of Nevada researchers found that only 1.9 percent of parents with children at risk for overweight and 17.1 percent of parents with overweight children accurately identified their child’s weight status. Moreover, parents who were overweight themselves were more likely to misperceive their child’s weight risks. The researchers note that, if parents are unable to identify their children’s risk of overweight or obesity, they cannot intervene.

Doolen et al., Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, March 2009 .