ABU DHABI // Confirmation that processed meat increased the chances of bowel cancer underlined the dangers that fast-food culture poses to the UAE’s population, experts said.
The World Health Organisation this week said that red meat that was processed, salted, cured, fermented or smoked carried a cancer risk as serious as that of smoking tobacco.
With the love of fast food in this country, doctors said many people, especially children, could be at risk of the disease.
Dr Norbert Dreier, consultant oncologist at Burjeel Hospital, said: “I see many young people here who are used to eating fast food from a young age. It starts early and children are primed to continue in this manner.
“It’s tough to educate the young people and to inform them that these food items are not good for them.”
The WHO review also found “strong evidence” that unprocessed red meat had carcinogenic effects. Dr Dreier, however, said that people should not avoid red meat altogether.
“Most of the women who come to see me are anaemic and they need to eat red meat because it has iron,” he said.
He recommended people eat only lean cuts of meat that have been cooked at home to ensure it contains no preservatives.
“The Arabic diet is very good for you but we are seeing an increase in the incidence of colon cancer as we are moving towards western-style eating habits,” he said.
“We are all taking over western eating habits and this may result in an increase in colon cancer rates similar to that in Europe.”
Shouq Shashaa, clinical dietician at Prime Healthcare in Dubai, said parents should set an example to children.
“Processed meat and fast food are really common nowadays and children and teenagers love this kind of food. This is easily accessible and cheap,” she said.
“Children adapt themselves to what they see their parents eating. If the parents are meat lovers and love barbecuing, the children will also eat it.”
She believed people could eat 90 to 100-gram portions of red meat once or twice a week, or once a week if they had a heart problem.
Dr Andre Rizk, the chief of oncology at Gulf International Cancer Centre, also believed one should not abstain from eating all meat. Moderation, however, was the key.
“We should not let people feel that eating red meat is as important a factor as obesity, smoking and alcohol abuse. Definitely, people should avoid processed red meat but they should not stop eating red meat,” Dr Rizk said.
“Children need to eat it because it’s important for their nutrition.”
According to the study by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, every 50g portion of processed meat eaten daily increases the risk of colorectal cancer by about 18 per cent.
The most recent estimates by the Global Burden of Disease Project, an independent academic research organisation, suggest that about 34,000 cancer deaths per year worldwide can be attributed to diets high in processed meat.
Every year, tobacco smoking causes about 1 million cancer deaths and alcohol consumption about 600,000 deaths a year.
arizvi2@thenational.ae
