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Cited by 115Nutritional Studies and DietFatty Acid Research and HealthDiet, Metabolism, and Disease

Dietary fat and adult diseases and the implications for childhood nutrition: an epidemiologic approach

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Law, Malcolm·2000·The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
DOI 10.1093/ajcn/72.5.1291s
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Abstract

Reducing dietary saturated fat by 7% of energy, a realistic target, would reduce serum cholesterol by 10% and mortality from ischemic heart disease by 25-30%. Randomized trials show that this mortality reduction is attained rapidly, usually by the third year after initial reduction of dietary saturated fat intake. Dietary change in adulthood may therefore reverse the adverse health effects of a high-fat diet in childhood. In the absence of such change, however, dietary fat in childhood may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in adult life because of a longer duration of exposure to a high-fat diet. Assessing the effects of diet on cancer risk is more difficult. The intermediary markers of risk that are analogous to serum cholesterol are less satisfactory and there are negligible trial data. Cohort studies of diet and cancer, although subject to bias, do not favor a direct causal relation between dietary fat and cancer. But a reduction in risk is likely when dietary fat is reduced as part of a general change toward a healthier diet. The trend toward increased energy intake and body size in childhood and relatively low dietary fiber contribute to the decreasing age at menarche, which is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. Low dietary fiber, low fruit and vegetable consumption, and high red meat consumption are associated with colon cancer and other cancers, and important causal effects of diet on cancer are likely. As with cardiovascular disease, this dietary trend that is commenced in childhood is likely to increase age-specific rates of colon cancer in adult life, but the risk may be reversed with later dietary change.

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Authors
Law, M.
Affiliations
St Bartholomew's Hospital (GB)
Corresponding author
Law, Malcolm
Venue
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2000-11
Volume
72
Issue
5
Pages
1291s-1296s
ISSN
0002-9165 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1093/ajcn/72.5.1291s
OpenAlex
W2765052961
Cited by
115
References
43
Citations by year
2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 7
FWCI
0.84
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Fatty Acid Research and Health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diet, Metabolism, and Disease
Keywords
dietary fat, saturated fat, child nutrition, cardiovascular disease, ischemic heart disease mortality, serum cholesterol, cancer risk, dietary fiber, colon cancer, breast cancer, age at menarche, energy intake, red meat consumption, fruit and vegetable intake
MeSH terms
Adult, Cardiovascular Diseases, Child, Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena, Diet, Dietary Fats, Female, Humans, Male, Neoplasms, Risk Factors, Global Health, Cohort Studies, Case-Control Studies, Stroke

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