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Comparing lipid profiles of college students to national recommendations
Author(s) -
Lofgren Ingrid Elizabeth,
Burke Joanne Delaney,
Morrell Jesse Stabile,
Reilly Ruth Ann
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.20.4.a137-c
Subject(s) - medicine , fingerstick , coronary heart disease , national cholesterol education program , population , lipid profile , demography , cholesterol , endocrinology , obesity , metabolic syndrome , environmental health , sociology , diabetes mellitus
Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the number one killer in America. Though older populations have been widely studied, scant information is available on lipid profiles of college‐aged persons. It is important to establish if CHD risk factors are present in this younger population. Study participants (n=478) were from an introductory nutrition course at the Univ. of New Hampshire. Complete lipid profiles were available for 411 of the 478 subjects; 145 were males (35.3%) and 266 were females (64.7%). Blood samples were obtained after an 8–12 hour fast via fingerstick and processed using the Cholestech LDX System. Mean age of males was 20.4 ± 2.72 y and females was 19.79 ± 2.41 y. Mean BMI for males (25.1 ±3.85 kg/m2) was significantly higher than mean BMI for females (22.68 ±3.41 kg/m2) (p<0.01). Mean total cholesterol and triglycerides were not significantly different between genders and were within the low risk parameter of NCEP ATP III guidelines. Mean HDL‐C and LDL‐C for males and females also were within NCEP ATP III’s low risk parameters, however female values were significantly better than male. Mean HDL‐C for females and males were 58.67 ±12.95 mg/dL and 44.67 ±12.74 mg/dL, p<0.01, respectively. Mean LDL‐C for females and males was 109.3 ±33.85 mg/dL and 121.05 ±39.36 mg/dL, p<0.01, respectively. The mean values for HDL‐C and LDL‐C in the male population are approaching the NCEP ATP III borderline values, < 40 mg/dL and < 130 mg/dL. HDL‐C and LDL‐C are independent risk factors for CHD. The data suggests that females have significantly better lipid profiles than the males even at college age. Supported in part by Office of Sustainability, NH Agricultural Experiment Station #11R571.