Starting Low-fat Diet Early Improves Heart Health

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Previous reports have shown that early dietary interventions can improve cholesterol levels in children, and now new research adds to this by showing that blood-vessel function is also enhanced, at least in boys.

The findings, which appear in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation, are based on a study of 1062 healthy 11-year-old children who were either put on a low saturated fat diet or and unrestricted diet starting in infancy.

Somewhat fewer than 200 children in each diet group had the elasticity of the interior walls (or endothelium) of their veins and arteries measured by using ultrasound to look at dilation of the blood vessels under various circumstances.

The low-fat diet was associated with better endothelial function in boys and girls, but this was significant from a statistical standpoint only in boys, Dr. Olli T. Raitakari, from the University of Turku in Finland, and colleagues note.

"Early nutrition may play an important role in the later vascular health of males," Raitakari said in a statement. "It may be associated with less atherosclerosis and a lower future risk of cardiovascular diseases."

As to why a significant association was not seen in girls, Raitakari said it may relate to "differences in sex hormone levels."

Circulation 2005;112.