August 24, 2000
		New Finnish Study: Kids Should Cut Animal Fat A new Finnish study says that feeding young children a diet low in saturated fat can help prevent heart disease later in life. Additionally, researchers said that this low-fat diet can begin as early as 1 year old without any harm to brain development. Saturated fat is found primarily in animal products. The study, which was published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, was a continuation of six-year research project begun in 1990. Subjects had their saturated fat limited to no more than 30 percent to 35 percent of daily calories starting as early as 7 months old. By the age of 5, children on the reduced-fat program showed the achieved similar test results in speech, language, motor functioning and visual skills as did their counterparts on an unrestricted diet. Autopsies reveal that even children have fatty streaks in their heart arteries, a buildup of fat and cholesterol from diets high in saturated fats.