Serum fatty acids in 8-year-old Finnish boys: correlations with qualitative dietary data and other serum lipids

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Abstract
To survey risk factors in coronary heart disease in Finnish children, fasting serum specimens from 244 healthy 8-yr-old boys were analyzed for the fatty acid composition of cholesterol esters (CE), triglycerides (TG), free fatty acids (FFA), and phospholipids (PL). A qualitative dietary survey was made by asking parents to answer a questionnaire including, among others, a question on the kind of fat usually used on bread by the child. The mean percentages of linoleate (18:2) in serum cholesterol esters, triglycerides, free fatty acids, and phospholipids were 53.1, 13.5, 11.5, and 22.7%, respectively, which represent an international average. The quality of dietary fat had a clear influence on serum fatty acids, eg, the content of 18:2 in CE was 56.8 ± 3.6% in boys using soft vegetable margarine and 50.5 ± 3.6% in those using butter. The former had also a marginally lower serum total cholesterol (4.87 ± 0.86 mmol/1) than the latter (5.08 ± 0.80 mmol/ 1). Serum total cholesterol showed significant negative correlations with the percentage of 18:2 in all four lipid fractions, the highest r values being with PL-18:2 (−0.41) and CE-18:2 (−0.24). Accordingly, serum cholesterol was lower in the highest CE-18:2 quartile (4.67 ± 0.76 mmol/1) compared with the lowest (5.30 ± 0.70 mmol/1; p < 0.001). The results indicate that when serum fatty acids are used as indicators of the quality of dietary fat, a negative association between polyunsaturated fat and serum cholesterol may be demonstrable even within a free-living population.