
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 9, 1991                   TAG: 9104090605
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

DOCTORS PUSHING FOR LESS MEAT IN AMERICANS' DIET

Americans would be healthier if they ate legumes, fruit or vegetables instead of meat as the main course, says a physicians' group trying to get the government to change its dietary recommendations.

Meat could still be eaten, but more as a garnish or flavoring than centerpiece of the meal, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine said Monday at a news conference to kick off its lobbying campaign.

The committee wants the Agriculture Department to change the food groups it recommends that people eat daily from meat, dairy, fruits and vegetables and bread and cereals to whole grains, vegetables, legumes and fruit.

Farm and food industry officials opposed the proposal.

Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the physicians group, said the traditional food groups have led to overconsumption of protein and fat.

Meat and dairy are high in these components that also have been associated with cancer, heart disease, obesity, diabetes and osteoporosis, he said.

"Perhaps we have come to accept that half of all Americans will die of heart attacks, one-third of cancer and that many of our older citizens will be debilitated by stroke," Barnard said.

Dr. Oliver Alabaster, director of the Institute for Disease Prevention at George Washington University, said that during World War II meat was nearly unavailable in Britain.

"The result was a dramatic decline in heart disease," he said. But, he said, when the war ended and meat became available again, the rate of heart disease increased.

The proposed change in dietary guidelines brought quick negative reaction from a former agriculture secretary and the nation's largest farm organization.

"The last thing we need to do is do something as radical as what was suggested today," said John Block, agriculture secretary under President Reagan and now president of the National Wholesale Grocers' Association.

by CNB