Are fish eaters healthier and do they consume less health-care resources?

Abstract

Objective: Regular dietary intake of fish is associated with reduced risk of developing cardiovascular and other chronic diseases, and may improve general well-being. If fish eaters are healthier, they may use fewer health-care resources. The present study aimed to describe the reported intake of fish and fish products in a Danish general population, and to investigate whether fish consumption is associated with generic measures of self-reported health and consumption of health-care resources. Design: Data on eating patterns and health status for 3422 Danish adults were obtained by telephone interview in the Funen County Health Survey. These data were merged with individual-level register data on health-care utilisation. Survey respondents were categorised into those consuming fish at least once weekly (fish eaters) and those consuming fish less frequently (non-fish eaters). Results: People who reported eating fish twice monthly or once weekly had significantly better overall self-reported health than those who rarely eat fish, even after adjustment for age, gender, social characteristics and lifestyle factors. Fish eaters did not have significantly lower aggregated health-care costs, although their hospital utilisation was significantly lower than that for non-fish eaters. Conclusions: Moderate fish consumption was associated with better self-reported general health even after controlling for possible confounding variables. Overall, fish eaters appeared to use the same amount of health-care resources as noneaters, although fish eaters used more medicine but were less likely to be admitted to a hospital.

Omega-3 fatty acids. What consumers need to know

“…The nutritional benefit of a diet rich in seafood and oily fish in particular extends beyond n-3 LC-PUFAs content. Fish, as a whole food, is an excellent source of lean protein and other vitamins and minerals including vitamins A and D, B group vitamins, iron, zinc, selenium and iodine (Hostenkamp & Sorensen, 2009).…”

A systematic review of the determinants of seafood consumption

“…Overall, there wasn't a strong directional association between sex and seafood consumption observed. Seafood consumption was higher in men than in women in thirteen papers (13,16,18,22,29,31,(52)(53)(54)(59)(60)(61)(62) as Accepted manuscript opposed to eleven papers (13,24,32,34,37,40,51,(54)(55)(56)63) finding that women were more likely to consume seafood. Two of these studies found that men are more likely to consume fried fish (13,54) , and according to three studies women were more likely to consume non-fried fish (13,54,63) .…”

“…Thirty-six papers found a significant association between education and seafood consumption. Most of these studies highlighted a positive association between education level and seafood consumption (14)(15)(16)18,23,(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(36)(37)(38)(39)41,42,45,46,(51)(52)(53)(54)(55)(57)(58)(59)63,64,71,73,(80)(81)(82)(83)(84) . An association between higher education and non-fried fish consumption, as well as an association between lower education level and fried fish consumption, was reported in two papers (54,57) .…”

“…Twenty-nine studies included in this review explored associations between seafood consumption and physical activity level. Most studies (n 22) found that higher seafood intake was associated with higher engagement in physical activity (16,20,22,27,33,(36)(37)(38)(39)51,52,56,57,63,64,67,(84)(85)(86)(88)(89)(90) . Three of these studies found a significant association between physical activity level and non-fried fish consumption specifically (57,63,64) .…”

Perceptions and preference for fresh seafood in an Australian context

“…Fish is an excellent source of lean protein, omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and micronutrients, including vitamins A and D, B group vitamins, iron, zinc, selenium and iodine (Hostenkamp and Sorensen, 2009). Regular consumption of fish and seafood has been linked with health benefits relating to coronary heart disease, heart failure, sudden death, some cancers, rheumatoid arthritis, neurological development, dementia, Alzheimer's disease and depression (Hibbeln, 1998;Morris et al, 2003;Hibbeln et al, 2007;Newton and McManus, 2011;McEvoy et al, 2012).…”