Effective control of hypercholesterolemia in children with dietary interventions based in pediatric practice.
BACKGROUND
Based on recent recommendations, the number of hypercholesterolemic children who would require dietary therapy could overwhelm current preventive pediatric cardiology resources. No previous studies have established the efficacy of such therapy in the pediatrician's office. The purpose of this study was to evaluate two programs of office-based therapy.


METHODS
We randomly assigned 295 children with hypercholesterolemia (> 185 mg/dl) two interventions: one single or four multiple 90-min sessions of family-oriented nutritional education, based in pediatric practices. We examined total cholesterol, 3-day food records, height and weight, and in the multisession group high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides at the beginning and at intervals of 8.5-9 and 21 to 33 weeks (single-session and multisession groups, respectively).


RESULTS
Total cholesterol was lowered equally in both treatment groups over the course of the study. This was accompanied by dietary changes: a decrease in calories derived from total and saturated fats, and increased intake of fiber, protein, and carbohydrate. However, more single-session patients withdrew from the program during the study.


CONCLUSIONS
The two interventions were equally effective in lowering total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and in reducing intake of total and saturated fat. However, the higher completion rate of the multisession group suggests that this approach may be the more effective.
Kuehl
K S
KS
Department of Pediatrics, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20007.
Cockerham
J T
JT
Hitchings
M
M
Slater
D
D
Nixon
G
G
Rifai
N
N
D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D004041:Dietary Fats; D004435:Eating; D002149:Energy Intake; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000178:diet therapy*; D009819:Office Visits; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood
D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D004041:Dietary Fats; D014280:Triglycerides; D002784:Cholesterol