Prevention of coronary heart disease: how far is the Belgian population from the recommended nutritional goals and ideal serum cholesterol levels?

For 15 years, recommendations concerning the primary preventionof coronary heart disease (CHD) have been made by internationalbodies or national agencies. In a national Belgian nutritionalstudy (the B.I.R.N.H. Study), the authors review how far theBelgian population is from the recommended nutritional goalsand ideal serum cholesterol. They also make comparisons betweengenders and look at differences according to the linguisticbackground (French- or Dutch-speaking subjects). Only a small percentage of the Belgian population reach thenutritional goals for total fat intake in males (8.4%) and females(7%), saturated fat intake (7.0% and 6.2%, respectively), andP/S ratio (13.5% and 12.4%, respectively). The percentages reachingnutritional goals are somewhat higher for polyunsaturated fatintake (27.9% and 28.6%, respectively) and dietary cholesterol(39.4% and 54.6% respectively). A total of 29.9% of the male population, and 32.7% of the femalepopulation are at ‘high risk’ of CHD according totheir serum cholesterol levels. In general the results are betterfor the Dutch-speaking population than for their French-speakingcounterparts. In conclusion, despite modifications in eating patterns anda decrease in CHD mortality in Belgium during the 1970s, a veryhigh percentage of males and females are still far from therecommended nutritional goals and ideal serum cholesterol levels.