Research
Mixed
Reducing total fat intake in children and adolescents to 28-34% of energy does not compromise growth or development, provided total energy and essential nutrient intakes are adequate.
For children over 2, you can safely reduce fat to about 30% of calories without worrying about stunted growth, as long as they are eating enough total food and getting enough protein. Do not restrict fat in infants under 2.
GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
Neither the controlled trials nor the observational studies support the existence of growth failure in diets that are adequate for total energy and protein, and contain 28% to 34% of energy from fat.
Why this rating
Supported by large-scale randomized controlled trials (STRIP, CATCH, DISC).
Source
Dietary Fat Consumption and Health
Alice H. Lichtenstein et al. · Nutrition Reviews · 2009
DOI 10.1111/j.1753-4887.1998.tb01728.x
narrative_reviewCited 291×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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