Plant stanol ester margarine lowers serum total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations of healthy children:: The STRIP project

Objective: To investigate cholesterol-lowering efficacy and safety of plant stanol ester margarine in healthy 6-year-old children already consuming a low-saturated-fat, low-cholesterol diet. Study design: Eighty-one intervention children from the STRIP project, a randomized prospective trial aimed at reducing exposure of young children to the known environmental atherosclerosis risk factors, were recruited to this double-blind crossover study at 6 years of age. In randomized order the families were advised to replace daily 20 g of the child's dietary fat intake with plant stanol ester margarine or control margarine for 3 months. The washout period lasted 6 weeks. Statistical analysis was performed according to intention-to-treat principle with analysis of variance for crossover design. Results: The mean daily plant stanol ester margarine consumption was 18.2 g (1.5 g plant stanol). The well-tolerated plant stanol ester margarine reduced serum total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations Ly 5.4% and 7.5%, respectively (P = .0001 for Loth). The serum high-density/lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations and alpha-tocophertol to low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio remained unchanged. The serum beta-carotene to low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio decreased by 19% (P =.003). Conclusion: Plant stanol ester margarine significantly diminishes serum total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration without adverse clinical effects in healthy children who already consume a low-saturated-fat, low-cholesterol diet but decreases the serum beta-carotene to low-dens;ty lipoprotein cholesterol ratio.