Does a high fat diet during childhood and adolescence increase the risk of heart disease?
Yes. Prevention of heart and blood vessel disease needs to begin at an early age. Atherosclerosis, or fatty deposits in the walls of the blood vessels, was shown in otherwise healthy young soldiers killed in battle in the Korean War. More recently, an autopsy study of 1,079 men and women who died between the ages of 15 and 34 showed fatty deposits and lesions in those with high levels of blood cholesterol. Eating habits that develop early can be difficult to change. Therefore, a preventive diet is recommended for all healthy children over the age of two years. Is poor diet a public health problem? Yes. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), one of the major national surveys in the National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Program, is a major source of periodic information of the dietary, nutritional and health status of the U.S. population. The dietary assessment component included a 24-hour recall interview. Highlights of this survey include: Mean dail
