peas at a party

Both Reuters and USA Today are reporting research from Finland, published this week in the American Heart Association online journal Circulation, showing that counseling very young children about healthier food choices can make a difference. 

Over 1000 children have been followed since the age of seven months.  About half of the participants were counseled to shift fat intake from saturated animal fats to healthier unsaturated fats, such as those in fish, nuts, and seeds.   As infants, the counseling was directed to the parents, but by age 7 it was directed primarily to the kids.

As age 14 there was a difference in cholestrol levels between the groups.  Although the difference appears small, it does translate into expected lower adult cardiac risk in the group that received counseling.

The study will follow the subjects until they reach the age of 20.

It may seem like what we say to kids about healthy food choices is just going in one ear and out the other.  But this study seems to show that at least some of it is being heard.  And remembered.

UPDATE, 8/16/07:  Research coming out of Pennsylvania State University reported in Nutrition Journal this week confirms that before puberty, kids oxidize fatty acids more readily than adults, making their need for healthy fats a bit higher than that for adults, with a recommended range of 25-35%.  The range for adults is 20-35%.