Dietary Fat Intake and Its Relationship with Serum Lipid Profiles in Tehranian Adolescents

Dyslipidemia is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and an important cause of death in adults. Long-term follow-up studies have demonstrated that dietary fat consumption in children and adolescent is one of these risk factors of dyslipidemia in adulthood. The purpose of the current study was to assess the dietary fat intake of Iranian adolescents and their relationship with serum lipid profiles. In this population based cross-sectional study 717 adolescents (391 girls and 326 boys), aged 10 to 19 years, were randomly selected from the fourth phase of Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study (2008-2011). Usual dietary intakes were assessed using valid and reliable food frequency questionnaire and a fasting blood sample was given from all participants to analyze serum lipid profile. Among serum lipid levels, only triglyceride (TG) concentration was higher significantly in boys. In girls, the percent of energy intake from total fat, poly unsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), mono unsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) and trans fatty acids were higher significantly. After adjustment for sex and age, serum levels of TG and HDL-C showed a significant decreasing and increasing trend according to the quartiles of percent of energy intake from PUFA, respectively. No significant difference was observed between other fatty acids and serum lipid profile. In conclusion, although the percent of calorie intake from fat and different types of fatty acids have effect in determining serum lipids levels, but they are not the most important factors for determining the serum lipid profile.