Lipid profiles of vegetarian and non-vegetarian children at risk of overweight or obesity

• Main Authors: Arie Purwana (Author), IKG Suandi (Author), Endy Paryanto Prawirohartono (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Indonesian Pediatric Society Publishing House, 2010-10-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 0030-9311; 2338-476X; 10.14238/pi50.5.2010.291-4
• Keywords: obesity, vegetarian diet; metabolic syndrome; lipid profile; Medicine; R; Pediatrics; RJ1-570
• Source: Paediatrica Indonesiana, Vol 50, Iss 5, Pp 291-4 (2010)

Background The type, amount, and composition of a diet may affect the levels of cholesterol in blood. Itis believed that children adhering to a vegetarian diet have lower total cholesterol levels and lower body mass indexes compared to children with non-vegetarian (omnivorous) diets. We wish to compare cholesterol levels of vegetarian and non-vegetarian Indonesian children who are at risk of overweight or obesity. Objective To compare lipid profiles of vegetarian and no-vegetarian children who are at risk for overweight or obesity. Methods We performed a cross-sectional study in January and February 2010. Subjects for this study came from Denpasar, Bali. Subjects filled questionnaires as well as underwent history-taking, anthropometric measurements, and blood testing. We performed lipid profile analyses on their blood samples. We used the independent t test and Mann-Whitney test for statistical analysis of the data. The level of significance was set at P <0.05. Results Our study included forty-four children at risk for overweight or obesity with a vegetarian or non-vegetarian diet. We found that vegetarian children had lower mean total cholesterol (144 mg/dL) than that of non-vegetarian children (171 mg/dL), a statistically significant difference of P=0.014. In addition, vegetarian children had lower mean triglyceride levels (150 mg/dL) than those of nonvegetarian children (264 mg/dL), a statistically significant difference of P =0 .025. Conclusion Among Balinese children at risk of overweight or obesity, vegetarians have significantly lower mean total cholesterol and triglyceride levels than non-vegetarians.