Report of the Expert Panel on Population Strategies for Blood Cholesterol Reduction. A statement from the National Cholesterol Education Program, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health.
Authors: R A Carleton, J Dwyer, L Finberg, J Flora, D S Goodman, S M Grundy, S Havas, G T Hunter, D Kritchevsky, R M Lauer
Journal: Circulation (1991)

Expert Panel Population Strategies for Cholesterol Reduction for continued research and evaluation as eating patterns change, blood cholesterol levels decrease, and CHD continues to decline.The panel recommends the following nutrient intakes for healthy Americans:* Less than 10% of total calories from saturated fatty acids.* An average of 30% of total calories or less from all fat.* Dietary energy levels needed to reach or main- tain a desirable body weight.* Less than 300 mg cholesterol per day.Each is intended to be achieved by an individual as an average of nutrient intake over several days.These recommendations concerning nutrient in- takes are appropriate for the general population, including healthy women and individuals 65 years of age and older.As healthy children join in the eating patterns of others in the family, usually at about 2 years of age or older, they should follow the recommended nutrient intake and eating patterns.To achieve more healthful eating patterns, the panel recommends that healthy Americans select, prepare, and consume foods that contain lower amounts of saturated fatty acids, total fat, and cho- lesterol; choose a variety of foods to ensure recommended intakes of carbohydrates, protein, and other nutrients; and consume only enough calories to main- tain desirable weight.The panel also makes recommendations for other groups: * Health professionals should both practice and advocate the recommended eating patterns; ensure that education of future health professionals includes appropriate nutrition education; and work with in- dustry, government, voluntary groups, and health care agencies to facilitate adoption of the recom- mended eating patterns.* The food industry, food and animal scientists, and food technologists should increase efforts to design, modify, prepare, promote, label, and distrib- ute good-tasting, safe foods that are lower in satu- rated fatty acids, total fat, and cholesterol.* Government agencies should provide consis- tent, coordinated nutrition statements and policies emphasizing low saturated fatty acid, low-fat, and low-cholesterol eating patterns; should expand and standardize food labeling requirements to identify clearly the content of saturated fatty acids, total fat, cholesterol, and total calories; and should take other steps to improve the consumer comprehension nec- essary to achieve the recommended eating patterns.* Educational programs at all levels should in- corporate curricula that emphasize the background, benefits, and methods of achieving eating patterns that are lower in saturated fatty acids, total fat, and cholesterol.This recommendation includes elemen- tary through high schools, vocational programs (especially in culinary arts), colleges, universities, and health professional schools.* Measurement of blood cholesterol, followed by appropriate education and counseling, is best initiated in the health care setting, but in specific circumstances and especially for selected segments of hardto-reach population groups, public screening for blood cholesterol, when carried out with high quality standards, is appropriate.* Research and surveillance must be ongoing to develop new information concerning diet, blood lipids, and CHD; the development of better data bases concerning food composition, food consumption patterns, illness rates, food product development, and nutrition education and communication is critical.Implementation of these recommendations will promote adoption of eating patterns that will help most Americans lower their levels of blood cholesterol.The result, an approximate reduction of 10% or more in the average blood cholesterol level of the US population, will lead to an approximate reduction of 20% or more in coronary heart disease and, in consequence, to significant improvement in the health and quality of life of Americans.