Diet and coronary heart disease in England and Wales during and after the second world war

Abstract

During the second world war there were large changes in consumption of fats, fibre, and sugar in Britain. These changes matched recent recommendations made by the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy (COMA) with the object of reducing the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD). It is widely believed that CHD mortality fell during the war. This paper re-examines CHD mortality among middle-aged people in England and Wales from 1931 to 1967. After allowance for changes in the rules for coding cause of death, and for the sharp increase in all-causes mortality in 1940, there is little to suggest that time trends in CHD were much influenced by the war. Because of confounding variables, this does not argue against the COMA report. However, it gives no support to the view that compliance with the recommendations on fat, fibre, and sugar will lead, by itself, to an appreciable fall in CHD mortality in middle-aged people.