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Ira S. Ockene, MD
Worcester, Mass

Arch Intern Med. 1996;156(19):2262.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

The article on the efficacy of the National Cholesterol Education Program Step I diet by Davidson et al,¹ which appeared in the February 12, 1996, issue of the ARCHIVES, has a number of flaws that seriously compromise the results; in addition, the data were presented in a way that came across as quite misleading in the national press. The article emphasizes the value of a Step I diet that incorporates quick-service foods, but, in fact, it would have been more appropriate to have titled the article "Relative Inefficacy of a Step I Diet Incorporating Quick-Service Foods as Compared With a Usual Step I Diet." In Davidson and colleagues' study, the traditional Step I diet lowered total serum cholesterol levels by 8%, as opposed to only 3% in the fast-food diet group; likewise, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were lowered 10% vs 4%.

The absence of a true control group seriously . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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