An institutional approach to the dietary regulation of blood cholesterol in adolescent males

Abstract

This study presents in detail an acceptable effective approach to initiate dietary modification to lower serum cholesterol in institutionalized, nonmotivated adolescent males. In order to simulate the traditional school menu pattern, considerable use was made of specially prepared food items to replace the ordinary market counterparts. During the Modified Diet periods, dietary fat intake was estimated to decrease from 39 (baseline) to 33% (modified diet) of total calories; saturated fatty acids decreased from 15 to 10% of total calories; and polyunsaturated fatty acids increased from 3 to 10% of total calories. The ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acids rose from 0.2 in the baseline diets to 1.0 on the modified diets, and mean daily intake of dietary cholesterol was reduced from 540 to 300 mg, a decrease of about 44%. Initial mean serum cholesterol level was 178 mg/100 ml. This was decreased promptly by about 15% upon introduction of the Modified Diet and returned to baseline levels after a short midterm vacation period and again after the summer vacation. Thus, an interrelationship between diet and level of blood cholesterol does exist in males as early as the second decade of life. Recognition and alteration of this environmentally determined risk factor during the adolescent years may result in lessened atherosclerotic vascular disease in later life.