[Childhood diet and cardiovascular risk factors].

Atherosclerosis begins during childhood. A strong relationship has been shown between the prevalence and extent of asymptomatic atherosclerosis and cardiovascular risk factors such as elevated body mass index, blood pressure and plasma lipid concentrations, starting in childhood. These risk factors are influenced by genetic predisposition, but also by environmental factors, and particularly diet. The Nutrition Committee of the French Pediatrics Society of Pediatrics has reviewed the scientific basis of dietary recommendations for children, in order to limit risk factors and thereby to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in later life. This review focuses on the effects of prenatal nutrition; the beneficial effects of breast-feeding on cholesterolemia, blood pressure and corpulence in later life; the impact of dietary lipids on plasma lipid concentrations; the effects of salt and potassium intake on blood pressure; and the relation between lifestyle and corpulence.