Abstract
In children, little is known about lipid profiles and the influence of dietary habits. In the past, we developed a dietary advice for optimizing the immune system, which comprised green vegetables, beef, whole milk, and full-fat butter. However, there are concerns about a possible negative influence of the full-fat dairy products of the diet on the lipid profile. We investigated the effect of the developed dietary advice on the lipid profile and BMI (body mass index)/BMI-z-score of children. In this retrospective cohort study, we included children aged 1–16 years, of whom a lipid profile was determined in the period between June 2011 and November 2013 in our hospital. Children who adhered to the dietary advice were assigned to the exposed group and the remaining children were assigned to the unexposed group. After following the dietary advice for at least three months, there was a statistically significant reduction in the cholesterol/HDL (high-density lipoproteins) ratio (p < 0.001) and non-HDL-cholesterol (p = 0.044) and a statistically significant increase in the HDL-cholesterol (p = 0.009) in the exposed group, while there was no difference in the BMI and BMI z-scores. The dietary advice has no adverse effect on the lipid profile, BMI, and BMI z-scores in children, but has a significant beneficial effect on the cholesterol/HDL ratio, non-HDL-cholesterol, and the HDL-cholesterol.
Highlights
Little is known about cholesterol and lipid profiles in children, except from children known to have familiar dyslipidemia
The dietary advice has no adverse effect on the lipid profile, BMI, and BMI z-scores in children, but has a significant beneficial effect on the cholesterol/HDL ratio, non-HDL-cholesterol, and the HDL-cholesterol
Our research shows that consumption of green vegetables, beef, whole milk, and butter has no adverse effect on the lipid profile in children
Summary
Little is known about cholesterol and lipid profiles in children, except from children known to have familiar dyslipidemia. Concerns about the cholesterol levels are troubling parents when doctors advise to give full-fat dairy products to their children. There are circumstances when full-fat dairy products are investigated for their possible positive contribution to different health aspects in children. One aspect is the functioning of the immune system, which is partly dependent on the nutritional status. Nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, play an important role in the strengthening of the immune system. An adequate nutritional status, and thereby a strong immune system, might prevent infections [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
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