Serum cholesterol levels were determined in 358 Japanese school children aged from 12-15 years. The subjects belonged to three different schools located in an urban area (A), a fishing village (B), and a mountain village (C), respectively.
Cholesterol levele in urban area A were significantly higher than the levels in rural areas B and C (p ＜ 0.01). Mean values±SD were ; for boys, 165.2±22.4 mg/dl in A, 137.6±16.4 in B,138.8±30.0 in C, and for girls, 169.5±23.6 in A, 152.0±25.8 in B, 142.6±21.8 in C.
Frequency of hypercholesterolemic children (＜200 mg/dl) was significantly higher in the urban area (6.9% in A) than in rural areas (1.9% in B and 2.0% in C). Eight percent of children in a mountain village were hypocholesterolemic (＜110 mg/dl), thereby reflecting an inadequate diet.