Reduction of elevated LDL-cholesterol levels of 4- to 10-year-old children through home-based dietary education.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the effects of a home-based, parent-child autotutorial (PCAT) dietary education program on the dietary knowledge, lipid consumption, and plasma low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) of 4- to 10-year-old children with elevated plasma LDL-C.


METHODS
"At-risk" children (screening total cholesterol, (TC), exceeded 4.55 mmol/L and average LDL-C from two fasting samples was between 2.77 and 4.24 mmol/L for boys or 2.90 and 4.24 mmol/L for girls) were randomized to the PCAT program (N = 88), for dietary counseling with a registered dietitian (N = 86), or to an at-risk control group (N = 87). Dietary knowledge, diet, and LDL-C of these groups were assessed at baseline and after the educational period (3-month follow-up). The knowledge and diet of a not-at-risk (TC below 4.22 and 4.34 mmol/L for boys and girls, respectively) control group (N = 81) was also assessed and compared with that of the at-risk control group.


RESULTS
At the 3-month follow-up, the PCAT children's knowledge scores had increased three times more than those of the counseling and at-risk control groups (P < .001). Mean grams of total and saturated fat consumed by PCAT and counseling groups declined while that of the at-risk control group increased slightly; these differences were significant (P < .05). The mean LDL-C decline of the PCAT group was significantly different (P < .05) from the decline of the at-risk control group (0.26 vs 0.09 mmol/L), and approached significance (P = .07) when compared with that of the counseling group (0.26 vs 0.11 mmol/L). The at-risk control group's knowledge and diet did not differ from that of the not-at-risk group.


CONCLUSIONS
The PCAT program offers a mechanism for providing effective dietary education to children with elevated cholesterol and to their families.
Department of Nutrition, Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802.
B M
BM
Shannon
A M
AM
Tershakovec
J K
JK
Martel
C L
CL
Achterberg
J A
JA
Cortner
H S
HS
Smiciklas-Wright
V A
VA
Stallings
P D
PD
Stolley
D002648:Child; D053198:Child Nutrition Sciences / Q000193:education*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood*; D004032:Diet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011897:Random Allocation; D012307:Risk Factors
D008078:Cholesterol, LDL