OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of dietary intervention on lipidemia in school-aged children.

METHODSThe levels of serum lipids profile were detected in 316 school children aged 7 - 11, from those the subjects of dietary intervention were selected by total cholesterol level above 4.26 mmol/L or low density lipoprotein cholesterol level above 2.23 mmol/L. The subjects were randomly divided into intervention group (120) and control group (40). Children in intervention group were fed with low-cholesterol and low-saturated fatty acid diet, and the control group with normal diet. The duration of intervention was three months. Before and after the intervention, the food intakes, health-related questionnaire and physical examination (height, weight, skinfolds thickness and so on) in the two groups were studied.

RESULTSCompared with the control group, serum cholesterol levels of children under intervention were not significantly changed (TC: 4.64 vs 4.68 mmol/L, P > 0.05; LDL-C: 2.66 vs 2.62 mmol/L, P > 0.05), but the apoA(1) level increased from 1,378.4 mg/L to 1,441.3 mg/L (P < 0.05). There were no changes for any serum lipids indexes in the control group while the dietary intakes of energy, cholesterol and SFA decreased markedly in the intervention group, with the percent of energy from fat decreased from 40.7% to 31.2% and SFA below to 10% (7.7%). Along with the increase of the scores of knowledge on health among children under intervention, the living and eating habit improved (the total scores increased from 24.6 to 27.4, P < 0.05). The increase of height was not significantly different between the two groups.

CONCLUSIONWith the family-based high-risk intervention strategy on the dietary adjustment, the knowledge on health, living and eating habit could be effectively improved in children with lipidemia. However, further research about the intervention effect on the serum cholesterol levels by strengthening the interventional degree, needs to be further studied.