Nutrition and the state of health of the population of the UkrSSR

: Investigations made it possible to establish that in the period from 1925-28 to 1970-71 there took place in the Ukraine an increase in the consumption of animal products (milk, meat, fish, eggs), of sugar, vegetables, fruits and a fall in the consumption of cereals (bakery products, grits, macaroni, beans) and potato. Because of these dietary changes in the nutritional pattern of the population there were noted an elevated proportional share of proteins and fats, basically of animal origin, and a decrease in that of complex carbohydrates. A direct relation between the health status of the population and its alimentation has been ascertained; first--between the calorific value of the food products sets and their fat and carbohydrates content, on the one hand, and the body weight of the examined, on the other; and secondly--between the fluorine level in the food and the prevalence of fluorosis, caries, exostosis, aggravated by an imbalance of a number of nutritional components, on the other. Note has been taken at the same time of the fact that obese individuals suffer more often from cardio-vascular affections, gout, uro- and cholelithiasis and diabetes mellitus.