Benefits include cutting prevalence of disability, death as a result of diet-related disease<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter<\/b><\/p>\n
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THURSDAY, April 11, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Forage fish (e.g., herring, sardines, and anchovies) are a promising alternative to red meat, according to a study published online April 9 in\u00a0BMJ Global Health<\/em>.<\/p>\n Shujuan Xia, from the National Institute for Environmental Studies in Tsukuba, Japan, and colleagues examined the impact of replacing red meat with forage fish in the global diet on diet-related noncommunicable diseases. The analysis included datasets of red meat projections in 2050 for 137 countries and forage fish catches.<\/p>\n The researchers found that forage fish may replace only a fraction (approximately 8 percent) of the world s red meat due to its limited supply, but it may increase global daily per-capita fish consumption close to the recommended level. This substitution could avoid 0.5 to 0.75 million deaths and 8 to 15 million disability-adjusted life years, primarily in low- and middle-income countries. By reducing red meat consumption with forage fish as an alternative, the number of deaths avoided could at least double.<\/p>\n “This study points to the need for fish-based food policy guidelines and nutrition-sensitive policies to pay more attention to the composition of future fish intake and to promote forage fish consumption,” the authors write.<\/p>\n