Westernization of diet and serum lipids in Ethiopians.

The dietary pattern, physical work output, and blood lipids were studied in three groups of healthy, young, urban Ethiopian men differing in the degree of "Westernization." The results showed striking increases in serum lipids that were associated with the degree of Westernization of the diet. These changes could not be accounted for by differences in other group characteristics such as age, weight, smoking, or length of residence in Addis Ababa. The effects of the level of physical work output on serum lipids were equivocal because the methods used for the assessment of energy output yielded crude approximations only.