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Serum nutritional components and food intake were examined in Nepalese (127 males and 163 females aged 4 to 72 years) living in a remote hilly village (area A and B, area A is located at a relatively lower altitude and is warmer) in the eastern region of Nepal. Mean values of height and weight for the groups covering ages 4 to 19 of both sexes and in both areas increased with age. The mean BMI value for each age group was mostly under 22, and the BMI correlated with age, and with systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The mean values of serum components were about the same levels in both sexes. Mean values of triglyceride (TG) of over 150 mg/dl were found in males 20–50 years old and in females over 50 years old in area A, and generally the mean values of TG of the subjects tended to be in the higher range of normal. The main foods consumed in both areas were rice, maize, potatoes, pulses, milk and dairy products, and vegetables, with a difference in the amounts consumed. Milk and dairy products were almost the sole food source of animal origin. The rather higher serum TG levels of the subjects may be due to large amounts of consumption of cereals containing a lot of carbohydrate, which transformed into lipids in the metabolic pathway. The present food intake study revealed that the amounts of food consumed were not adequate resulting in a latent and chronic deficiency of nutrients, especially such as calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), and fat-soluble vitamins. These results suggest that improvement of the nutritional status is needed in this people group.

This study examined the physical status (72 males and 69 females) and serum distribution of lipids, protein, and Ca (60 males and 57 females) of people aged 1 to 72 years living in southeastern Nepal. The mean values of height and weight increased with age to adolescence and were the same for both sexes in childhood. Males were taller than females above the 15-19-year age group. There were large weight differences among individuals, with adult males tending to be heavier than adult females. The average body mass index increased with age (r=0.72, p

The effects of dietary cholesterol on the relationship among cholesterol and fatty acid levels in the serum, liver, and heart of female rats were studied. When various levels of cholesterol (0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1.00%) were added to a 10% butter diet with cholic acid, proportional increases appeared in liver weight (r=0.94), but no significant increase occurred in body or heart weight. An increase in dietary cholesterol induced increases in serum, liver, and heart cholesterol (r=0.72, r=0.87, and r=0.84, respectively). A direct relationship was found between the cholesterol levels for the serum and the liver (r=0.67) and for the serum and the heart (r=0.83). The ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids/cholesterol decreased with cholesterol levels in serum, liver, and heart (r=-0.83, r=-0.74, and r=-0.77, respectively). The changes in heart cholesterol correlated positively with the changes in heart levels of palmitoleic acid (r=0.61), and the value of palmitoleic acid in the heart correlated with the values for serum palmitoleic acid (r=0.60). These results indicate that dietary cholesterol has profound effects on the levels of cholesterol and palmitoleic acid in the heart as in the serum and liver and show that changes in the amounts of cholesterol and palmitoleic acid in serum reflect changes in these amounts in the liver and heart.