Plasma lipid changes in the normal population following behavioral treatment

Compared the effectiveness of 3 intervention programs, diet booklet only, nutrition education, and behavioral intervention with nutrition education, for reducing plasma cholesterol and triglyceride in individuals living in the community whose lipid levels fell within the average range for the American population. Results with 183 Ss (volunteers over 18 yrs of age solicited through newspaper articles and food demonstration workshops) show that Ss who received the behavioral intervention with nutrition education had a significantly greater reduction in cholesterol than those in the other 2 conditions at 6 mo. Both nutrition education and behavioral intervention groups had small but statistically significant cholesterol reduction at 12 mo. Triglyceride decreases were also small but statistically significant for both the nutrition education and behavioral intervention groups at 12 mo. Although Ss could lower their lipid levels for 6 mo, they did not maintain their decreases. Implications for the role of behavior modification in public health programs are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).