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The American Academy of Pediatrics' recommendations earlier this month to prescribe cholesterol-lowering statin drugs to kids as young as 8 was met with harsh criticism by many health professionals.

As I mentioned last week, with no long-term safety data to back up the recommendations, critics can't fathom putting children on statins for decades. And some argue that prescribing these drugs is tantamount to giving up dietary avenues to lower cholesterol.

As a parent, you also might be reluctant for your child to pop a pill to lower cholesterol.

There is no argument about the dangers of high cholesterol. Elevated LDL (bad) cholesterol is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease. LDL cholesterol is the type that deposits on artery walls, causing them to become hardened and narrowed as people grow older.

Statins have an important role to play in children with familial hypercholesterolemia, an inherited condition, which results in very high cholesterol levels beginning at birth and can lead to heart attacks at a young age.

But most kids don't needs statins to ward off a future heart attack - they need a healthy diet. The AAP's new guidelines should warn parents that their children could be building up fatty deposits in their arteries and reinforce the need for a healthy lifestyle beginning early in life.

Last summer, researchers from Finland published a landmark study, the Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project (STRIP), which has strong implications for how kids should be taught to eat from an early age. The study showed that children who were fed a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol from seven months of age through 14 years had lower cholesterol levels and healthier arteries than those who followed an unrestricted diet.

In the study, children assigned to the cholesterol-lowering diet used soft margarine and vegetable oils instead of butter, and after one year of age, they were introduced to skim milk. An increased intake of fruit and vegetables, berries and whole grains was also encouraged. Nutrition counselling was aimed at parents until the children were 7, at which time dietary information was given directly to the children.

The cholesterol-lowering effect of the diet was maintained throughout puberty, when children begin to consume more meals away from home.

If your child has high LDL cholesterol, is overweight, or has other risk factors for heart disease such as elevated blood triglycerides, high blood pressure or diabetes, diet is the first place to start.

CUT SATURATED FAT

It's clear that a high intake of saturated fat found mainly in animal foods raises LDL cholesterol. Choose lean cuts of meat (sirloin, tenderloin, flank steak, eye of the round) and skinless poultry breast. After age 1, introduce low-fat dairy products such as 1-per-cent or skim milk, 1-per-cent or non-fat yogurt, and part-skim or skim-milk cheese.

Replace butter with non-hydrogenated margarine, vegetable oils and nut butters, which are sources of heart-healthy, unsaturated fat. Substituting unsaturated fats for saturated fat will provide the fat calories growing kids need and may also raise HDL (good) blood cholesterol.

Read labels on store-bought baked goods because many may contain high levels of saturated fat.

LIMIT OR AVOID TRANS FAT

Formed during a process called partial hydrogenation, trans fat raises LDL cholesterol and lowers HDL cholesterol. It's found in commercial baked goods, toaster pastries, snack foods, fried fast foods, some brands of margarine and even baby foods.

Trans fats also occur naturally at low levels in beef, lamb, goat and dairy products. But unlike industry-produced trans fat, natural trans fats are not considered harmful in amounts typically consumed.

Read labels and choose foods with little or no trans fat. Foods with a daily value (DV) for saturated plus trans fats of 5 per cent or less are considered low in these fats.

ADD SOLUBLE FIBRE

Studies in children have shown that soluble fibre - the type found in psyllium and oat bran - gives additional cholesterol-lowering power to a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol. When consumed, soluble fibre forms a sticky gel and traps cholesterol and fat in the gut, speeding the substances' removal from the body.

Sources of soluble fibre include psyllium-enriched breakfast cereals, oatmeal, oat bran, barley, ground flaxseed and dried beans, peas and lentils.

Consider plant sterols

Found naturally in small amounts in nuts, vegetable oils, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, these compounds are also added to foods such as margarine, milk beverages, yogurt and yogurt drinks in the United States.

Studies have demonstrated that consuming 2 grams of plant-sterols per day from enriched margarine or yogurt lowers LDL cholesterol in children by as much as 9 per cent.

At this time, plant sterol-enriched foods are not available in Canada.

MORE OMEGA-3

A daily fish-oil supplement might not lower cholesterol, but one study suggests that taking DHA, an Omega-3 fat found in oily fish, can improve artery function in children with inherited high cholesterol on a low-saturated-fat diet. Omega-3 fats in fish are thought to help blood vessels relax, inhibit blood clots and reduce inflammation.

Unless your child is allergic, introduce and regularly serve fish such as salmon, trout and Arctic char. Speak to your child's pediatrician about supplementing with liquid fish oil.

CONTROL WEIGHT

Losing excess weight by decreasing calories and increasing exercise can lower LDL cholesterol, reduce triglycerides and raise HDL cholesterol.

Don't overfeed kids or force them to finish meals if they're not hungry. Estimated calorie requirements for kids range from 900 for a one-year-old to 1,800 for teenaged girls and 2,200 for teenaged boys.

Encourage your child to accumulate 90 minutes of combined moderate (brisk walking, biking) and vigorous (running, soccer) physical activity every day.

Leslie Beck, a Toronto-based dietitian at the Medcan Clinic, is on CTV's Canada AM every Wednesday. Her website is lesliebeck.com.