PEDIATRICS Vol. 62 No. 4 October 1978, pp. 510-520
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Pediatric Aspects of Hyperlipidemia

Jan L. Breslow M.D.1

1 Metabolism Division, Department of Medicine, Children's Hospital Medical Center, and the Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston

Pediatricians and nutritionists are often asked about the type and amount of lipid that should be contained in the diet of an infant or a child. Interest is motivated by the high incidence of coronary artery disease in the American population, and the belief that diet is an important etiologic factor in atherosclerotic disease.1 Furthermore, since atherosclerosis is sometimes well advanced by the third decade of life, the true primary prevention of atherosclerotic disease is a pediatric problem and must begin in childhood.2.3 This report will review the relationship between diet, hyperlipidemia, and atherosclerotic disease, and will offer practical recommendations for intervention in the pediatric population.

It is estimated that 40% to 45% of the deaths in the United States are due to atherosclerosis and its complications. The majority of individuals with symptomatic atherosclerotic disease are 65 years or older.4 The disease is often associated with the aging process; however, there are individuals who age without signs of such disease. There also are individuals in the general population who develop symptomatic atherosclerotic disease at a young age. It is estimated that 3% of women and 10% of men will have some first event of coronary artery disease before 55 years of age.4 A large percentage of those in this group are predisposed to atherosclerotic disease because of metabolic or genetic factors such as the inherited forms of hyperlipidemia.5-8

Serum Lipids and Coronary Heart Disease

Atherosclerosis has existed for thousands of years, as evidenced by the autopsy performed on the embalmed body of an Egyptian pharaoh which showed an aorta affected with large calcified atheromatous lesions.9

Submitted on October 15, 1977
Accepted on January 9, 1978




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[Abstract] [PDF]