Day 036 - 13 Oct 94 - Page 08
1
2 Q. " - develop obesity with all its complications eg.
3 diabetes and hypertension. Studies on the control of
4 energy balance in humans have not yet shown differences
5 between saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, so the
6 total amount of fat seems to be the important
7 consideration in the prevention of obesity". Do you agree
8 or disagree with that?
9 A. I do agree. If we are speaking of dietary fat intake,
10 that is a very important consideration both in the cause
11 and in the prevention of obesity.
12
13 Q. I think, and I am not using tendentious words, the effect
14 of your book is to incriminate excessive fat of all kinds,
15 is it not?
16 A. Fat, all types of fat, have the same calorie intake
17 and do have an effect on the growth of the adipose tissue.
18
19 Q. The study group go on: "There are no good systematic
20 studies" -----?
21 A. Could you hold on for just a moment? Pardon me.
22
23 Q. "There are no good systematic studies on the prevalence of
24 obesity in relation to the proportion of fat in the
25 nation's diet, but crude analyses of the national food
26 supply from FAO" -- that is the Food and Agriculture
27 Organisation of the United Nations -- "FAO figures in
28 relation to the average body mass index measured as part
29 of the recent major Interstart study on adults, suggests
30 that a mean body mass index of 22 to 23 is associated with
31 a dietary fat content that provides 15 to 20 per cent of
32 energy."
33
34 Dr. Barnard, pausing there, what is, in your view, so far
35 as -- this is, I know, a very broad question and qualify
36 the answer, by all means -- the general health of human
37 beings, what is an ideal body mass index?
38 A. Well, there is no single body mass index that is
39 ideal, because the body mass index, as you have aptly
40 hinted at, does not take into account constitutional
41 factors such as the size of the frame or the distribution
42 of fat, as I am sure you are well aware.
43
44 Q. Yes.
45 A. However, a body mass index that is below 25, most
46 people would consider not to be obese and to be in the,
47 broadly speaking, normal range.
48
49 Q. "In Brazil the mean body mass index is about 22, the fat
50 content of the diet amounts to about 18 per cent of energy
51 intake. On average figure 3 on page 30 shows that in
52 Brazil the prevalence rate of obesity is low in children.
53 European figures suggest that for adults a mean body mass
54 index of 25 to 26 is associated with a dietary fat
55 content, but provides 35 to 40 per cent of energy."
56 There is then a prevalence of grade 1 obesity. Is that
57 the same as what you earlier called frank obesity, do you
58 think?
59 A. I am not sure what they are using as a definition of
60 grade 1 obesity in this paragraph.
