The study released on April 9, led by the National Institute for Environmental Studies in Tsukuba (Japan), is an analysis of data which adds that the prevalence of disabilities caused by food-related diseases could be significantly reduced.

The possible deaths avoided worldwide would be related to coronary heart disease and would also save between 8 and 15 million years of life lived with disability, mostly concentrated in low and middle-income countries.

Forage fish can only replace a fraction, around eight percent, of the world’s red meat due to its limited supply, but it could increase global daily per capita fish consumption to close to the recommended level, as well as reducing deaths from coronary and bowel cancer by two percent by 2050.

Adopting this type of diet would be “especially useful” for low and middle-income countries, where these fish are cheap and plentiful, and where the number of heart diseases in high.

The research published by BMH Global Health is based on databases on red meat forecasts for 2050 in 137 countries and historical data on catches of forage fish in marine habitats.

There is growing evidence linking the consumption of red and processed meat to an increased risk of non-communicable diseases, which accounted for around 70 percent of all deaths worldwide in 2019.

The study recalled that out of these deaths, coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes and bowel cancer accounted for almost half, 44 percent, with coronary heart disease topping the list.

Marine forage fish are rich in long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, the intake of which can prevent coronary heart disease, and are abundant in calcium and vitamin B12.

In addition, they have the lowest carbon footprint of all animal food resources.

Currently, three-quarters of catches, including a significant amount caught off the coasts of countries suffering from food insecurity and malnutrition, are crushed to obtain fishmeal and fish oil, which are used mainly in fish farming for high-income countries.

For landlocked countries, the study indicated that global marketing and trade in forage fish should be expanded.