Day 254 - 22 May 96 - Page 21
1
2 Q. Right.
3 A. What is almost certainly true about all this is that it
4 is a multi-factorial situation we are dealing with and no
5 one factor is entirely responsible for all forms of cancer.
6
7 Q. But that diet is one of them?
8 A. Diet may be one of them.
9
10 MR. MORRIS: Is diet a causal factor in obesity?
11 A. Not entirely. Obviously, diet is important but there
12 is a relationship between the number of calories that you
13 expend in terms of exercise and the number of calories that
14 you take in your diet. It is a balance. So you cannot
15 just say that diet is the sole cause of obesity.
16
17 Q. I did not say it was the sole cause. I said, is diet
18 causally related to obesity?
19 A. It may be, certain aspects of it.
20
21 Q. You are not sure?
22
23 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No. It may be in a particular case, as
24 I understand that answer to be.
25
26 MR. MORRIS: May be in a particular case?
27 A. Well, if you ----
28
29 Q. Of the people that are obese what percentage are obese
30 because part of the reason is it is diet related?
31 A. Probably the majority of people who eat too much are
32 obese because of that factor. But it is not just eating,
33 of course. Remember. Alcohol is a great source of
34 calories.
35
36 Q. The vast majority of obesity is caused by dietary factors
37 and there may be other factors as well?
38 A. Including alcohol, yes.
39
40 Q. Right.
41
42 MS. STEEL: In the third paragraph, the final sentence when you
43 say 'there is a growing feeling that any effect may well be
44 due to total energy intake rather than fat per se', that is
45 the general medical view is it?
46 A. Well, it is certainly a growing feeling that it has not
47 been easy to explain why fat itself may have any effect,
48 because, if you remember, on the previous evidence I gave
49 it was suggested that energy death risks at certain points
50 in one's lifetime can affect things like growth and
51 development, and it may therefore be the total energy that
52 people take which is responsible for some of these
53 changes. It is very easy to blame fat because, as I have
54 said already, there are more calories per gram of fat than
55 any other nutrients and what people are beginning to
56 question now is it has been easy to say it is related to
57 fat but is that really the answer, is it not more that the
58 total energy intake from all sources rather than fat per se
59 which can give rise to some of the effects that we are
60 seeing.
