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Special to the News: Review of Surgeon General’s Nutrition Report
Published in the Ojai Valley News, September 3, 1988, p. B-3.
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Dear Dr. Meinig:
I assume you have seen the Surgeon General’s recent report about nutrition and how the dietary habits of Americans is having them eat their way to early graves. I just completed reading your book and was amazed that everything Dr. (U.S. Surgeon Gen. C. Everett) Koop said in his report was data you have in your book, and have been saying for many years in your columns.
I don’t know what plans you have to promote your book, but I have been in advertising and marketing so I visualize the surgeon general’s statement as being a great promotional opportunity for you. Regardless, I would like your opinion of the report. – C.E.
Dear C.E.:
Yes, I am very happy about Surgeon General Koop’s news release to the nation, particularly because it supports what I have said about diet being a leading factor in coronary heart disease, stroke, atherosclerosis, diabetes, some types of cancer, and obesity.
For way too long physicians and government health organizations have denied the claims of nutritionists about the role of diet in the health of our people. We have often been called kooks and quacks and charged as being unprofessional.
Now the man they call “the nation’s doctor” and head of the Public Health Service states emphatically that “diseases of dietary excess and imbalance are among the leading causes of death in the U.S.”
Readers should be aware that Koop is not making these statements as personal beliefs, but his report made to America on July 27 was the result of work by 50 physicians, nutritionists, and scientist-researchers.
The effort required the study of more than 2,000 scientific research articles about the subject. It took four years to complete the 720 page report.
The study stated that of the 2.1 million Americans who died last year, 1.5 million succumbed to diseases associated with diet. That means that well over half the deaths are due to poor eating habits.
Perhaps, those who have not entirely gone along with my statements about the role of diet in the cause of degenerative diseases will now look more seriously upon the food and beverage choices they are making.
Another major issue brought out by the surgeon general that I have written about quite frequently is his statement that “over-consumption…is now a major concern for Americans.” In fact, on page 88 of my book ‘New’Trition, the section title is “overfed but undernourished.”
Koop’s words are slightly different than mine but they have exactly the same meaning.
It is hoped by U.S. health officials that the surgeon general’s report will have the same galvanizing effects on the nation’s eating habits as did his 1964 and subsequent warnings about the dangers of tobacco and smoking. “While both have had their share of controversy and misunderstandings, the nutrition study findings are more uniformly accepted,” Koop said.
Readers who would like to learn more about the choices they have in preventing these major ill-health problems can find my book at The Table of Contents Book Store, Ojai Stationers, Rainbow Bridge Health Food Store, Heart of Light, and Country Club Collectibles. $12.95 plus tax.
It is also available by mail from Bion Publishing, P.O. Box 10, Ojai, 93023. Shipping $1.50. Satisfaction guaranteed.