LEADING SCIENTIST WARNS OF DANGERS OF NOT EATING ENOUGH OILY FISH - A VITAL "BRAIN FOOD"

"If we don't go back to our fish eating days, evolution is in danger of going into reverse"

New NOP research reveals that three quarters (75 per cent) of 15 to 24-year-olds in Britain eat oily fish less than once a week including just over a third (35 per cent) who don't eat it at all.

Prof. Michael Crawford, Director of the Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition at North London University, today (23 May) urged more people to eat oily fish saying he believed that a deficiency in our diets could be a contributory factor in the deterioration of mental health.

Oily fish such as trout, salmon, herrings, kippers, mackerel, pilchards and sardines contain Omega-3 fatty acids, an important ingredient of the brain and nervous system. Prof. Crawford said: "We need to get back to feeding our minds as well as our bodies, otherwise the future of the nation is grim. We should all be eating oily fish at least once a week."

The NOP research was commissioned by the British Trout Association to mark National Trout Week (22 to 29 May). It showed a clear decrease in fish consumption from the older to younger age groups, which Prof. Crawford described as "extremely worrying"

Looking at the population as a whole, more than half of Britains eat oily fish less than once a week including a fifth (22 per cent) who don't eat it at all.

The British consumed 145.89g of fish per person per week in 1998 compared to 282.15g fifty years earlier, according to the National Food Survey. Figures for oily fish are not separated out but it is thought that consumption here has dropped even more significantly.

Prof. Crawford has studied the benefits of Omega-3 for more than 20 years and a major focus of his work has been the role of Omega-3 in brain development and the evolution of mankind.

"A diet of fish containing Omega-3 was essential for the necessary cerebral expansion which transformed our predecessors into homo sapiens. Brain capacity expanded rapidly in our prehistoric ancestors living in East African near large fresh water lakes. If we don't go back to our fish eating days, evolution is in danger of going into reverse."

Prof. Crawford says his theories on the evolution of mankind are supported by a discovery of fossil tools reported in the 4 May issue of Nature magazine¹. These suggest that early humans occupied coastal areas and exploited marine food resources heralding an expansion in the range and complexity of human behaviour.

"Medical experts have long known of the benefits of oily fish in the fight against heart disease but it is just as vital as a brain food," said Prof. Crawford.

He said that research by colleagues across the world was now beginning to investigate a deficiency of Omega-3 with depression and mental illness² It was also linking the incidence of heart disease with the incidence of depression and mental illness³. People who suffer from heart disease are now being shown to also suffer from depression and vice versa³."

Mental illness is increasing dramatically across the world and by 2020 is set to move from No. 4 to No. 2 in the burden of global health problems, with coronary heart disease moving to No. 1. The Depression Alliance estimates it costs the UK more than £8 billion a year in lost work days and medical costs.

Evidence that constituents of Omega-3 are a vital part of brain development has also led to considerable research into the importance of Omega-3 in the development of the unborn child in the womb and the newly born infant. Prof. Crawford, who has been very involved in this field, said pregnant and breast feeding mothers should include oily fish in their diet to ensure the proper development of their children. Although this area of work has been well publicised, the NOP research showed that nearly one in two women were unaware of this.

Mark Davies, chairman of the British Trout Association, said: "We are organising this week to raise awareness of the benefits of trout. Omega-3 is extremely important to good health and we want more people to know about it. Trout is not only an excellent source of Omega-3, it's also delicious and quick and easy to cook."

Footnotes:

1. Nature Magazine, 4 May 2000 "Head for the Beach."
2. Research has been carried out by Joseph R. Hibbeln, Chief of Outpatients at the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in Maryland, in the States, linking the incidence of major depression, heart disease and fish consumption. Do Plasma polyunsaturates predict hostility and violence? World Rev Nutr Diet 1996. Fish consumption and major depression, Lancet, Vol. 351, p. 1213.
3. In a study conducted in Baltimore, it was found that of 1,551 people who were free of heart disease, those who were depressed were four times more likely to have a heart attack in the next 14 years than those who were not, National Institute of Mental Health (Publication 99-4592)

Prof. Crawford Ph.D has an international reputation in the field of brain nutrition and has published two books and many papers on the subject.

Note to Picture Editors: 9.30 a.m. 23 May - photocall with Prof. Crawford surrounded by fish at Blagdens fishmongers, 65 Paddington St, London, W1M 3RR

Omega-3 and Mental Health and Depression

Consumer Research

• An NOP survey among 1,000 people, was also commissioned by the British Trout Association, into depression. More than one in three people questioned (37 per cent ) admitted they had suffered at some time from mild depression with 12 per cent saying they had suffered from serious depression. An alarming 39 per cent of 15 to 24-year-olds said they had suffered from mild depression with 10 per cent saying they had suffered from serious depression.
• Regionally, the North West suffered the highest rate of mild depression (a staggering 53%) with those questioned in the North East accounting for the lowest (19%) The West Country ranked highest for serious depression (20%) with Anglia ranking lowest (8%).
• Significantly more women suffer from depression than men, 43 per cent, compared to 30 per cent of men. Fourteen per cent of women said they suffered from serious depression, compared to 10 per cent of men.

Medical Research

• The National Institute of Mental Health is currently sponsoring a study to examine the effectiveness of omega-3 fatty acids in treating bipolar disorder.
• Research has been conducted by David Horrobin and Malcolm Peet into the use of fish oil in the treatment of schizophrenia.
• In a study conducted in Baltimore, it was found that of 1,551

Statistics

• Suicide accounts for 20% of all deaths of young people (Office for National Statistics). There are two suicides every day by young people under the age of 25 in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
• The Samaritans estimates that attempted suicide in the UK increased by 50% from 100,000 in the early 1990s to 150,000 in 1996. Attempted suicide by young people has undergone a significant increase. Although figures are consistently higher for young women, the largest increase has occurred for young men, with a sharp 63% increase from 1990 to 1996. There was also an upturn in attempted suicide by young women which of 35% from 1993 to 1996.
• The Samaritans received 4.5 million calls in 1998 and 15,300 e-mails, an increase from 4.4 million calls in 1997 and 7,500 e-mails
• In the year 2000, approximately one million people will die from suicide, according to the World Health Organisation, a "global" mortality rate of 16 per 100,000 or one death every 40 seconds. In the last 45 years suicide rates have increased by 60 per cent worldwide. Suicide is now among the three leading causes of death among those aged 15-44. ·
• Traditionally suicide rates have been highest among the male elderly, but rates among young people have been increasing to such as extent that they are now the group at highest risk in a third of countries, says the WHO.
• World Health Organisation Director General Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland says: "Mental illness suddenly bulks very large indeed. All predictions are that the future will bring a dramatic increase in mental problems. it is a crisis of the 21st Century."

NOP Solutions carried out the depression research among 1,000 people between 5 and 7 May NOP Solutions carried out the fish eating survey among 2,000 people between 14 and 19 April

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