CV RISK FACTORS IN MINORITY PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

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The purpose of the Healthy Start Program will be to determine the effects of a two-year program of day care and family-based interventions on preschool children's risk for cardiovascular disease. Healthy Start will recruit a cohort of minority 3- and 4-year old children from six large Head Start Centers. Eligibility for Head Start requires that the family be below poverty level. After baseline evaluation, six centers will be randomly assigned to one of three conditions: C/FS; curriculum plus food service modification; FS; food service modification only; and C: control. Children in the curriculum plus food service (C/FS) condition will receive two years of a behaviorally-oriented health and nutrition education curriculum which will include classroom learning activities for the child and integrated family educational activities. In addition, the food service will be modified so that meals and snacks provided to the children meet the recommendations of the NCEP pediatric panel guidelines for children over two years of age. Children in the food service modification condition (FS) will receive the modified school food program only. The primary outcome of interest is dietary intake of total fat and saturated fat. It is hypothesized that at post-test, children exposed to the C/FS and FS program interventions, after controlling for baseline values, will have lower dietary intake of total fat and saturated fat compared with controls. A secondary outcome of interest is serum cholesterol levels compared with children in the control condition. Observations will also be made to determine effects on growth patterns.