The Fat Factor at a Very Young Age
A line of research first suggested by autopsies conducted on Korean War casualties nearly 40 years ago has produced new evidence that the risk of heart disease in adulthood can begin in the habits of childhood. The brighter side of this gloomy news is that a lot can probably be done to postpone that risk by getting the young to be more careful about what they eat.
The Korean War study made the surprising discovery that the arteries of most of the young Americans who were examined were streaked with fatty deposits. The bodies of Korean and Chinese soldiers, conversely, showed few signs of such lesions. This difference, attributed to the high levels of fat in the typical American diet, helped inspire decades of research into the relation between diet and coronary artery disease. Particularly intriguing was the evidence that atherosclerosis, the clogging of the arteries that in time can lead to heart attacks and strokes, may begin early in life and be fairly well established by the late teens or early 20s. Now, new research, presented at the American Heart Assn.’s annual science writers’ forum, strongly supports that inference, and points to the value of preventive measures in childhood.
The research, based on hundreds of autopsies on people between the ages of 15 and 34 who died in accidents or by other violent means, uncovered a clear correlation between high blood levels of the LDL form cholesterol--the so-called bad cholesterol--and the first stages of atherosclerosis. Young people who had higher levels of the HDL form of cholesterol showed less evidence of atherosclerosis. In the older population a high level of HDL--the “good” cholesterol--is thought to be a sign of a healthier vascular system.
The latest scientific findings were anticipated. As long ago as 1978, the American Heart Assn. proposed that saturated fats and cholesterol be limited in the diets of children after the age of 2 to retard the onset of heart disease. Last year the American Academy of Pediatrics issued guidelines urging that in families with a history of heart disease or high blood cholesterol, children 2 years and older should have their cholesterol levels tested with a view toward diet modification if readings are found to be high.
This doesn’t mean, some researchers emphasize, that young children should be deprived of ice cream or otherwise forced to follow rigid low-fat diets. It does suggest that many parents would be doing their offspring a favor--typically, one that won’t be appreciated until much later in life--by acting to reduce excess cholesterol and saturated fats in their diets.
Heart disease remains, as it has been throughout this century, the nation’s leading cause of death. Heart disease may not be wholly preventable. But in a great many cases it’s certainly delayable, and the fruits of delay mean fewer premature deaths, more productive lives and the avoidance of large and often crippling medical expenses. The evidence is now more compelling than ever that the best time to start heading off premature heart disease may well be in early childhood.
