Files
Abstract
Widespread concerns about cholesterol have resulted in lowering
consumers' egg consumption. Children one to five years of age consume more eggs if
their mother/caretakers eat more eggs, and they consume fewer eggs if their
mother/caretakers have higher levels of education or if the children attend a child-care
facility serving meals. Older children eat fewer eggs than younger children.
Mother/caretakers' egg consumption is negatively affected by income levels and
educational levels and positively affected by being non-Caucasian. Children's egg
consumption is less responsive to factors that increase egg consumption than are
adults' intakes. Children's mean cholesterol intake levels are higher than
recommended levels for non-Caucasians, as opposed to Caucasians, and for all of
those in low-income groups—the same groups whose egg consumption is highest
when compared with those of other groups. The study's results indicate that there is
a clear unmet need for nutrition education for mother/caretakers (and notably for Food
Stamp Program participants), who are in lower-income and frequently less-educated
groups and who, under the existing programs, receive very little or no education
focused on healthful nutrition for young children. WIC is an appropriate vehicle for
lessening cholesterol intake of young children in the highest-risk cordons for
succumbing to premature arteriosclerosis.