Body weight, diet, and serum cholesterol in 871 middle-aged men during 10 years of follow-up (the Zutphen Study).

Information about anthropometric, dietary variables and serum cholesterol was collected in the Zutphen Study in 1960, 1965, and 1970. Relationships among those variables were analyzed both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. In all 3 yr significant correlations were observed between body weight and serum cholesterol. Serum cholesterol was also significantly inversely related to energy intake per kg body weight in all 3 yr after both univariate and multivariate analyses. The percentage energy intake from alcohol was significantly positively related to serum cholesterol in all 3 yr after univariate analyses and in 2 of the 3 yr after multivariate analyses. Changes in body weight during 5 and 10 yr of follow-up were strongly positively related to changes in serum cholesterol during those periods. Multivariate analyses showed that a change of 1 kg in body weight was accompanied by a change in serum cholesterol of 2 mg/dl. Changes in dietary cholesterol per 1000 kcal were weakly significantly related to changes in serum cholesterol during 10 yr of follow-up.