Seven Countries Study Surveys

In mid-20th century, the Seven Countries Study sought a more formal explanation for apparent cultural differences in rates of heart attack and stroke. It deliberately chose study cohorts in regions contrasting widely in traditional diet, from the high (olive) vegetable-fat pattern of Mediterranean countries, to the high-animal fat diets of northern Europe, to the extremely low-fat, high-carbohydrate Japanese pattern. All men of given communities or occupations were examined and followed for decades and their attack rates related to their average nutrient consumption, plus the “usual” risk factors. Heart attack rates differed more than 10-fold: even deaths from all causes differed 3-fold. This brief non-technical film describes and discusses these differences.