6009.0: Thursday, October 25, 2001 - 9:30 AM

Abstract #32324

Is unsaturated fat largely responsible for the major reduction in heart disease mortality in Eastern Europe?

Witold A Zatonski, Cancer Center and Institute, Warsaw, Poland and Walter C. Willett, Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, , wwillett@hsph.harvard.edu.

Since 1991 an unprecedented decline in coronary heart disease mortality has been observed in Central Eastern Europe. This decline has been observed at all ages, among both men and women, and across levels of education. Among younger age groups, mortality rates from CVD are 40% lower than one decade earlier. These rapid reductions in mortality coincide with the introduction of a market economy and many changes in diet and lifestyle. Preliminary analyses of Polish data suggest that changes in dietary fat, specifically a large increase in vegetable fats, may account for a large part of the observed reductions in deaths due to heart disease.

Learning Objectives: Describe lower mortality rate in association with unsaturated fat consumption.

Keywords: Heart Disease,

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

The 129th Annual Meeting of APHA