Children 4 to 10 years old who cut the amount of fat in
their meals and snacks to lower their cholesterol are
as well nourished as those on unmodified diets, a Penn
State-led team has shown.
Dr.
Jeannie McKenzie, lead author on the team's recent report
in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association,
says, "Our results indicate that you can safely
feed a 4 to 10 year old child a diet in which only 30
percent of the calories come from fat as long as you
follow the guidelines on the Food Pyramid."
"Parents
can be reassured that, if they follow the Dietary Guidelines
for Americans as illustrated by the Food Pyramid, they
will not be compromising their child's growth or other
nutritional factors to deal with cardiovascular risk
through a fat-modified diet," she added.
Most
of the children in the study had moderately elevated
levels of low-density-lipoprotein (LDL), sometimes called
"bad" cholesterol, in their blood. Health
professionals often recommend low fat diets for such
children to lower their risk of heart disease when they
get older by decreasing their blood lipid levels.
The
303 children, all of whom came from families in the
suburbs north of Philadelphia, were divided into four
groups. One group received face-to-face counseling once
from a registered dietitian and took home print materials
for themselves and their parents. Another group received
a home-based education program that involved parent
and child in 10 weekly "talking book" lessons,
follow up paper-and-pencil activities, and a manual
for parents. The remaining two groups were controls,
one group with elevated blood lipids and one without.
The controls received no educational program, counseling
or printed materials.
Both
groups of children who received intervention, either
from a dietitian or the home-based education program,
reduced their LDL blood levels after 3 months. However,
the group that received home-based education reduced
their blood lipid levels faster and showed a greater
decline in "bad" cholesterol.
The
children in the two intervention groups achieved their
lower blood lipid levels by consuming fewer servings
of high fat meats, dairy products, fats/oils and desserts
and more servings of lower fat foods.
McKenzie
says, "It's significant to note that the children
did not stop eating meats, dairy products, fats/oils
and desserts but rather modified their choices within
those food groups by choosing fewer servings or lower
fat alternatives."
As
a result, despite the lower number of servings from
some food groups, the children on modified diets had,
on average, adequate intakes of all nutrients, defined
as greater than 67 percent of the Recommended Daily
Allowance, the same as the kids on the unmodified diets.
McKenzie
adds, "It's possible that some well-meaning parent
could become overly restrictive toward their child's
diet and compromise the child's nutritional status.
But, if the adult follows the Food Pyramid guidelines
and the child also receives some counseling or education,
it's safe to feed a 4 to 10 year old free living child
a diet in which 30 percent of the calories come from
fat."
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