Serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels in Australian adolescent vegetarians.

Vegetarians consume a diet free ofor low in animal meat but containing, in addition to vegetable products, eggs and milk and their derivatives. The diet is low in saturated fats and high in polyunsaturated fats; it is also relatively high in beans and fibre, which may actively reduce serum cholesterol. Such diets would be expected to produce blood lipid levels lower than those found in the average population, and this has been confirmed in a few studies.'-3 Such studies have not been performed on adolescents or children. We report the results of a preliminary study of blood lipid levels in 183 Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) adolescents and compare them with the results of a previous study of adolescents from the general Australian population.4