NR AMQD
AU Wilson,S.; McLeod,S.; Gillies,A.; Carter,Y.
TI Bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Media coverage had shortlived effect on beef consumption by pregnant women.
QU British Medical Journal 1996 Jul 20; 313(7050): 171
KZ BMJ. 1996 Apr 20;312(7037):1038. PMID: 8616365
PT comment; letter
VT
EDITOR, - K D Gunasekera and colleagues comment on the public recognition of scientific uncertainty about the risk of developing Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease after eating beef? Their conclusion is supported by our data, which indicate that although almost three quarters of women stopped eating beef in the week after the media coverage of the scare, this reaction was short lived.
A study collecting information about folic acid supplementation by pregnant women is also collecting dietary information,(2) asking about food eaten in the past week; information is collected about 20 common foods containing varying levels of folates. During the 10 weeks 29 January to 21 April 1996, 409 pregnant women attending three hospitals in Birmingham were recruited to the study. All were attending a maternity hospital booking clinic; 294 were in the first trimester of pregnancy. The ages of the respondents ranged from 15 to 46 (mean 27.9 years). The catchment areas of the participating hospitals have varied socioeconomic and ethnic compositions.
Four hundred women (98%) completed the dietary section of the questionnaire; 105 reported that they had eaten beef during the previous week. The media coverage of the 10 cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in young people occurred in the week beginning 18 March(3) In the five weeks preceding this announcement 59 (36%) of the 163 women recruited reported that they had eaten beef at least once during the previous week (table 1).
Table 1
Number (percentage) of respondents who reported having eaten beef in past week
Had eaten beef
Period No. recruited No Yes
29 Jan to 17 Mar 163 104 (64) 59 (36)
Week beginning:
18 Mar 36 26(72) 10 (28)
Week beginning:
25 Mar 20 18 (90) 2 (10)
Week beginning:
1 Apr 89 73 (82) 16 (18)
Week beginning:
8 Apr 27 24 (89) 3 (11)
Week beginning:
15 Apr 65 50 (77) 15 (23)
Total 400 295 (74) 105 (26)
In the four weeks after the media coverage the proportion of women reporting having eaten beef fell to 36 (18%) of 201 women (chi-2 = 15.6, P = 0.00008). Asians reported eating beef less frequently than other ethnic groups (4/44 (9%) versus 101/356 (28%); chi-2 = 7.52, P = 0.006). However, adjustment for weekly variation in the proportion of vegetarians (24 (6.0% of the study population)) and Asians (44 (10.8%)) recruited does not explain the observed fluctuation in consumption of beef.
Data for the most recent week (beginning 15 April) show that the rate of beef consumption had risen to 23%, which suggests that it was reverting towards former levels. Possibly, pregnant women are more health aware than the general population. These data suggest, however, that the dramatic fall in beef consumption after the heavy media coverage was short lived. This could mean either that the public has identified the scientific uncertainty or that after an initial reaction most of the public rapidly reverts to usual behaviour patterns. If the latter hypothesis is correct this may have implications for government health warnings and health education policy.
ZR 3
MH Animal; Cattle; *Eating; Encephalopathy, Bovine Spongiform/*prevention & control; Female; Human; *Mass Media; *Meat; Pregnancy; Public Health; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
AD SUE WILSON Research fellow, SANDY McLEOD Research associate, ANNE GILLIES University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT
SP englisch
PO England