Programs to lower cholesterol from childhood on could lower rates of coronary artery disease and save lives, according to a review from a team at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine.

Approaches to lowering cholesterol to prevent heart disease are "too little, too late," according to the physician-researchers. There's a large body of evidence proving that low cholesterol levels are linked with low rates of heart disease and "...our long-term goal should be to alter our lifestyle accordingly, beginning in infancy or early childhood."

Authors of the review, published in yesterday's issue of Circulation, noted that "instituting a low-saturated fat, low-cholesterol diet in infancy (7 months) is perfectly safe, without adverse effects."

"Our review of the literature convinces us that more aggressive and earlier intervention will probably prevent considerably more than 30 percent of coronary heart disease," lipid researcher Dr. Daniel Steinberg, a professor emeritus of medicine, said in a university news release. "Studies show that fatty streak lesions in the arteries that are a precursor to atherosclerosis and heart disease begin in childhood, and advanced lesions are not uncommon by age 30. Why not nip things in the bud?"

Currently, interventions typically begin in adults diagnosed with high cholesterol levels or other risk factors or symptoms of coronary artery disease.

A national program to lower cholesterol could be combined with government efforts to fight obesity and diabetes.