Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2001 Mar 31;322(7289):757-63.
doi: 10.1136/bmj.322.7289.757.

Dietary fat intake and prevention of cardiovascular disease: systematic review

L Hooper  1 , C D Summerbell, J P Higgins, R L Thompson, N E Capps, G D Smith, R A Riemersma, S Ebrahim
Affiliations

Dietary fat intake and prevention of cardiovascular disease: systematic review

L Hooper et al. BMJ. .

Abstract

Objective: To assess the effect of reduction or modification of dietary fat intake on total and cardiovascular mortality and cardiovascular morbidity.

Design: Systematic review.

Data sources: Cochrane Library, Medline, Embase, CAB abstracts, SIGLE, CVRCT registry, and biographies were searched; trials known to experts were included.

Included studies: Randomised controlled trials stating intention to reduce or modify fat or cholesterol intake in healthy adult participants over at least six months. Inclusion decisions, validity, and data extraction were duplicated. Meta-analysis (random effects methodology), meta-regression, and funnel plots were performed.

Results: 27 studies (30 902 person years of observation) were included. Alteration of dietary fat intake had small effects on total mortality (rate ratio 0.98; 95% confidence interval 0.86 to 1.12). Cardiovascular mortality was reduced by 9% (0.91; 0.77 to 1.07) and cardiovascular events by 16% (0.84; 0.72 to 0.99), which was attenuated (0.86; 0.72 to 1.03) in a sensitivity analysis that excluded a trial using oily fish. Trials with at least two years' follow up provided stronger evidence of protection from cardiovascular events (0.76; 0.65 to 0.90).

Conclusions: There is a small but potentially important reduction in cardiovascular risk with reduction or modification of dietary fat intake, seen particularly in trials of longer duration.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Summary of systematic review profile
Figure 2
Figure 2
Estimates of total mortality (95% confidence intervals) from meta-analysis
Figure 3
Figure 3
Estimates of cardiovascular mortality (95% confidence intervals) from meta-analysis
Figure 4
Figure 4
Estimates of combined cardiovascular events (95% confidence intervals) from meta-analysis
Figure 5
Figure 5
Total mortality and combined cardiovascular events (95% confidence intervals) from subgroup and sensitivity analyses within meta-analyses
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Morrison LM, Awierlein M, Wolfson E. The effects of low fat low cholesterol diets on the serum lipids. Circulation. 1950;2:475–476.
    1. Hu FB, Stampfer MJ, Manson JE, Rimm EB, Colditz GA, Rosner BA, et al. Dietary fat intake and the risk of coronary heart disease in women. N Engl J Med. 1997;337:1491–1499. - PubMed
    1. Yu-Poth S, Zhao G, Etherton T, Naglak M, Jonnalagadda SS, Kris-Etherton PM. Effects of the national cholesterol education program's step I and step II dietary intervention programs on cardiovascular disease risk factors: a meta-analysis. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999;69:632–646. - PubMed
    1. Tang JL, Armitage JM, Lancaster T, Silagy CA, Fowler GH, Neil HAW. Systematic review of dietary intervention trials to lower blood cholesterol in free-living subjects. BMJ. 1998;316:1213–1220. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brunner E, White I, Thorogood M, Bristow A, Curle D, Marmot M. Can dietary interventions change diet and cardiovascular risk factors? A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Am J Public Health. 1997;87:1415–1422. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms