ABSTRACT
The role of fats in the diet has created an important area of research because of the major impact of lipid intake on energy balance and on the quality of body growth, biological functions, and long-term health. Lipid intake and metabolism in childhood are related to the development of early vascular lesions and longterm risk of cardiovascular disease (see Chap. II). Infants and young children need relatively large amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), which are indispensable components of structural lipids in the cell membranes of tissues; thereby, they modulate membrane functions such as membrane fluidity, activity of membrane-bound enzymes and receptors, metabolite exchange, and signal
transduction. The availability of polyunsaturated lipids has been shown to affect the functional development of the central nervous system during the phase of rapid brain growth in infancy. Some long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids are also precursors of bioactive lipid mediators, including prostaglandins, thromboxanes, and leukotrienes. During the last two decades, evidence has accumulated indicating that dietary lipid intake affects the immune response and may have an impact on the activity of inflammatory diseases and possibly the manifestation of atopic diseases.
