This Article Full Text Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Dwyer, T. Articles by Berenson, G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Dwyer, T. Articles by Berenson, G. Pubmed/NCBI databases Substance via MeSH

(Circulation. 1997;96:2830-2836.)
© 1997 American Heart Association, Inc.

Articles

Differences in HDL Cholesterol Concentrations in Japanese, American, and Australian Children

Terence Dwyer, MD; Hisao Iwane, MD, PhD; Kimberlie Dean, BMedSci; Yuko Odagiri, MD, PhD; Teruichi Shimomitsu, MD, PhD; Leigh Blizzard, MEc; Sathanur Srinivasan, PhD; Theresa Nicklas, DrPH; Wendy Wattigney, MS; Malcolm Riley, PhD; ; Gerald Berenson, MD

From the Menzies Centre for Population Health Research, WHO Collaborating Centre for Population Based Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Programmes, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia (T.D., K.D., L.B., M.R.); the Department of Preventive Medicine ardiology (J.M.C.) and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (D.F.), Mount Sinai Hospital; Division of C ardiology (J.C.S.) and Department of O College, WHO Collaborating Center for Health Promotion Through Research and Training in Sports Medicine, Tokyo, Japan (H.I., Y.O., T.S.); and the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University Medical Center, New Orleans, La (S.S., T.N., W.W., G.B.).

Correspondence to Menzies Centre for Population Health Research, GPO Box 252-23, 17 Liverpool St, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, 7000. E-mail t.dwyer{at}utas.edu.au

Background Mortality from coronary heart disease is relatively low in Japan compared with other developed countries and has remained low despite an increasing standard of living and an apparent increase in mean plasma cholesterol concentration in adults over the past three decades. Important differences in childhood plasma lipoprotein profile might contribute to some of the difference in coronary heart disease mortality seen between Japan and both Australia and North America.

Methods and Results Plasma HDL cholesterol and total cholesterol were surveyed in representative populations of schoolchildren in Australia, Japan, and Bogalusa, La. The mean concentration of plasma HDL cholesterol (but not total cholesterol) was higher for Japanese schoolchildren than for Australian or US schoolchildren (P<.001). In addition, the difference in plasma HDL cholesterol between the ages of 8 to 10 years and 12 to 15 years was much greater for Australian (boys, 15.2%; girls, 2.6%) and US (boys, 9.1%; girls, 2.7%) children than for their Japanese counterparts (boys, 4.2%; girls, 1.9%). An examination of potential explanatory factors revealed little difference in body mass index between samples, higher physical activity levels for the Japanese compared with the Australians, and substantial differences in dietary intake between Japanese and Australian schoolchildren.

Conclusions The relatively high ratio of plasma HDL cholesterol to total cholesterol in Japanese schoolchildren and the relatively small negative difference of plasma HDL cholesterol with age may help to explain why the coronary heart disease mortality rate in Japan is low compared with that in other developed countries.

Key Words: cholesterol • coronary disease • population

This article has been cited by other articles:

				V. J. Cleland, K. Ball, C. Magnussen, T. Dwyer, and A. Venn Socioeconomic Position and the Tracking of Physical Activity and Cardiorespiratory Fitness From Childhood to Adulthood Am. J. Epidemiol., November 1, 2009; 170(9): 1069 - 1077. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. C. Carr, J. D. Brunzell, and S. S. Deeb Ethnic differences in hepatic lipase and HDL in Japanese, black, and white Americans: role of central obesity and LIPC polymorphisms J. Lipid Res., March 1, 2004; 45(3): 466 - 473. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. W Kuzawa and L. S Adair Lipid profiles in adolescent Filipinos: relation to birth weight and maternal energy status during pregnancy Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, April 1, 2003; 77(4): 960 - 966. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. W. Mahley, P. Arslan, G. Pekcan, G. M. Pepin, A. Agacdiken, N. Karaagaoglu, N. Rakicioglu, B. Nursal, P. Dayanikli, K. E. Palaoglu, et al. Plasma lipids in Turkish children: impact of puberty, socioeconomic status, and nutrition on plasma cholesterol and HDL J. Lipid Res., December 1, 2001; 42(12): 1996 - 2006. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]