HC Deb 22 July 1977 vol 935 cc760-1W
Mr. Cronin

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give any convenient approximate yearly figures indicating the incidence of coronary heart disease in England and Wales, during each of the last five years.

Mr. Moyle

Following are estimated numbers of in-patient spells for treatment of coronary heart disease in NHS hospitals in England and Wales in the years 1970 to 1974 inclusive, 1974 being the latest year for which data are available.

Policy entitled "Diet and Coronary Heart Disease"—DHSS Report on Health and Social Subjects No. 7, June 1974. I have subsequently received no advice from the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy to justify any variation in these recommendations.

Mr. Cronin

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what information he has as to the association of consumption of saturated fats and cholesterol with the incidence of heart disease;

(2) what information he has as to the relationship between the ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fats in the diet and the incidence of coronary heart disease.

Mr. Moyle

I have no further information that would be relevant to matters of food policy other than the Report entitled "Diet and Coronary Heart Disease" published in June 1974—DHSS Report on Health Services Subjects No. 7 —by an expert advisory panel of the Chief Medical Officer's Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy and in the Joint Working Party Report of the Royal College of Physicians and the British Cardiac Society published in April 1976 entitled "Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease."

Mr. Cronin

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has as to the association of obesity with coronary heart disease.

Mr. Moyle

Both the report of the advisory panel of the committee on medical aspects of food policy, 1974, and of a joint working party of the Royal College of Physicians and the British Cardiac Society, 1976, concluded that obesity is associated with an increased mortality in general and may be associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease. Obesity is usually associated with other risk factors such as increased blood pressure or glucose intolerance, and as such may be an indication of a person at high risk. However, in the relatively few cases where there is no other risk factor present there is less evidence that it is a serious hazard.