Sir, - John Enright, (December 16th) makes a number of assumptions which, unfortunately, have no basis in fact. He claims that "the average diet . . . in the 1940s and 1950s became semi-vegetarian" and his hypothesis is that "Britain attained far higher standards of health than ever before or since". The truth is somewhat removed from this assertion. Those decades saw these islands ravaged by TB, diphtheria and other infectious diseases for which there was no cure. In addition, there were mineral and vitamin deficiencies caused by poor diet and a host of occupational diseases. Perhaps Mr Enright might suggest a reason why the life expectancy today is 10 to 15 years higher than it was then.
However, to be fair, if the aim of his letter was to advise people to moderate their intake of red meat, then anybody with an interest in cardiovascular health would agree. - Yours, etc.,
Dr John G. Simon, Kilnamanagh, Dublin 24.