Are we what we eat?

This issue of Pediatrics has two articles on the effects of dietary constituents in childhood. Weidman et al. (p. 354) from the Mayo Clinic report no difference in the diets of children with widely different cholesterol levels. Pisacano et al. (p. 360) from the Long Beach Pediatric Group have instituted a "prudent diet" in a subgroup of their pediatric patients, finding a striking decrease in obesity in that subgroup compared with controls. Among pediatricians, infant diet has ranked with religion and politics as an unsuitable subject for nondyspeptic dinner conversation. Feelings run high between the two poles of "leave well enough alone" and "it's high time we did something about it." (March 1978)