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Noncompliance with therapeutic diets remains a major obstacle to achieving improvements in cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. This study compared dietary compliance and CVD risk factor response to two dietary interventions designed to treat hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus. In a multicenter trial, 560 adults were randomly assigned to either a self-selected, mixed-food plan (n = 277), or a nutrient-fortified prepared meal plan (n = 283); each was designed to provide 15-20% of energy from fat, 55-60% from carbohydrate, and 15-20% from protein. Nutrient intake was estimated from 3-d food records collected biweekly throughout the 10-wk intervention. Compliance was determined by evaluating the participants' ability to meet specific criteria for energy intake [+ or -] 420 kJ (100 kcal) from the midpoint of the prescribed energy range], fat intake (< 20%, < 25%, or < 30% of energy from total fat), and the National Cholesterol Education Program/American Heart Association Step 1 and 2 diet recommendations. Compliance with energy, fat, and Step 1 and 2 criteria was better in participants who followed the prepared meal plan than in those who followed the self-selected diet (P < 0.0001). Compliant participants in both groups achieved greater reductions in body weight, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and total and low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol than noncompliant participants (P < 0.05). In general, better endpoint responses were observed with lower fat intakes regardless of group assignment. The prepared meal plan is a simple and effective strategy for meeting the many nutrient recommendations for CVD risk reduction and improving dietary compliance and CVD endpoints. Am J Clin Nutr 1997;66:373-85.

Community intervention projects, efforts at single centers, and multicenter, prospective, dietary salt-restriction trials suggest that such an intervention is neither easy to achieve nor simple to maintain. Community-wide interventions based on advertisements, pamphlets, posters, radio messages, instructions in schools or other institutions, and cooperation from food suppliers such as butchers and bakers resulted in a slight decrease in salt consumption, mostly in normotensive women. A demonstration project at a single center showed that lowering salt intake longterm by 50% in hypertensive patients was feasible. That study included self-administered, positive-feedback devices to indicate adherence and a role for a household partner in achieving compliance. Multicenter intervention trials also indicate that reducing salt intake in the long term is feasible. However, in all intervention trials the subjects were highly selected, stable, generally married male volunteers. An elaborate training program involving many health care professionals was necessary and recidivism was common. Successful intervention requires specific goals and delegated responsibilities on the part of the health care team, careful assessment of the patient and the risk factors, as well as motivation for behavioral change, a specific plan for implementation, repetitive educational efforts, and a built-in monitoring mechanism.

Sodium restriction, widely prescribed for hypertensive persons and recommended for the broader US population, may result in nutrient alterations that could either beneficially or detrimentally affect overall diet quality. Most dietary sodium comes from meats (including poultry and fish), grains, and dairy products. These three groups also provide most dietary calcium, iron, magnesium, and vitamin B-6. Thus, reduced consumption of foods that are primary sodium sources could concurrently reduce the dietary content of these other nutrients below recommended daily intakes. This consequence of sodium restriction has not been specifically addressed in clinical trials. Although intake of most food groups was significantly reduced by a sodium-restricted diet in the Hypertension Prevention Trial, three other large clinical trials reported differing effects of sodium restriction on simultaneous energy and nutrient intakes. In the largest study of the effects of a sodium-restricted diet on intake of all major nutrients, sodium reduction was accompanied by lower energy intake and, concomitantly, lower intakes of total fat, saturated fat, protein, carbohydrate, and calcium. Present data are inadequate for determining the potential nutrient alterations of a broad prescription of sodium restriction. Difficulties in interpreting the available data result from the combination of sodium restriction with other interventions, intensive sodium reduction measures that do not reflect clinical implementation, poor compliance with sodium restriction, lack of analysis of changes in patterns of food intake, and interventions that are too short to reflect stable dietary patterns.

Current dietary recommendations for cardiovascular disease risk reduction and recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) were used to develop a nutritionally complete prepackaged prepared meal plan specifically designed to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. In the current study we tested patient acceptance of the diet as defined by measures of quality of life. In a randomized, parallel-design, multicenter clinical trial, 77 persons with hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, or a combination of two or more of these conditions were recruited and randomly assigned to either a prepared meal plan (n = 39) or a comparable self-selected diet (n = 38) for 10 wk. The prepared meal plan met both the RDAs for all essential micronutrients and the dietary recommendations of national health organizations for macronutrients, cholesterol, sodium, and fiber. The prescribed self-selected diet was matched for macronutrients. Quality of life, as measured by a battery of instruments, was the major endpoint. Individuals consuming the prepared meal plan had significant improvements in mental health (P < 0.01), general perceived health (P < 0.005), daily activities (P < 0.05), work performance (P < 0.005), affect (P < 0.01), and nutritional health perceptions (P < 0.001), and reductions in nutrition hassles based on a standardized questionnaire (P < 0.001). The self-selected-diet group had significant improvements in nutritional health perceptions (P < 0.001) and affect (P < 0.001). There were significant improvements in weight (P < 0.001), blood pressure (P < 0.001), cholesterol (P < 0.002), low-density lipoproteins (P < 0.001), glucose (P < 0.014), and glycated hemoglobin (Hb [A.sub.1c]) (P < 0.004) that were comparable in both groups. In summary, this study shows that a nutritionally complete diet, whether prepackaged or self-selected, improves multiple risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The prepackaged prepared meal plan had the added benefit of a greater improvement in quality of life.

This study examined the feasibility of increasing food-derived calcium to 1500 mg d and the impact of this change on plasma lipids and nutrient consumption in hypertensive (n = 130) and normotensive (n = 196) participants. Three interventions were applied in a randomized, parallel, placebocontrolled fashion: 1) counseling to increase dietary calcium through food consumption to 1500 mg/d (n = 106), 2) a 1000-mg/d calcium supplement (n = 109), or 3) placebo (n = 111). Plasma lipids were measured before and after 12 wk of intervention whereas nutrient intake was monitored throughout the study. At baseline, hypertensive patients reported lower intakes of carbohydrates, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, iron, vitamin D, thiamin, and riboflavin (all P < 0.05). They also had lower HDL (P = 0.014) and higher LDL (P < 0.05) compared with normotensive subjects. During intervention, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, thiamin, riboflavin, and vitamins C and D increased (P < 0.01) in the group receiving food calcium but not in the placebo or supplement groups. No changes occurred in plasma lipids or lipoproteins after 12 wk of intervention.

Three hundred twenty-two consecutive operations between December 1985 and December 1989 for 10 types of low-risk congenital cardiac malformations were reviewed to determine the hospital charge and postoperative length of stay. Multiple regression analysis of variance was used to predict the influence of the primary diagnosis and various preoperative parameters. The average hospital charge was $27,262 [+ or -] $20,644 and the postoperative length of stay was 9.3 [+ or -] 8.3 days. Age at operation alone did not influence the dependent variables. The diagnosis of atrial septal defect (p = 0.002) or coarctation of the aorta (p = 0.002) decreased the mean charge, whereas the 8 other primary diagnoses did not significantly influence the mean charge. Other preoperative factors found to be predictive of increased hospital charge were: the date of operation (p 100 miles from home to hospital (p = 0.05). A primary diagnosis of atrial septal defect decreased the mean postoperative length of stay by 3.1 days (p

My grandfather was a near-victim of the 1918 outbreak ('Journal of the Plague Year'). Mistaken for dead, he was covered and placed near other bodies when he managed to blow [...]