
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 7, 1991                   TAG: 9104070018
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA.                                LENGTH: Medium

PROJECT LEAN STEPS UP EFFORT TO MAKE VIRGINIA HEALTHIER

Fatback and greens. Ham biscuits and fried chicken. These are the staples of Southern cooking, but they're also the ingredients for an early heart attack.

A nationwide program called Project LEAN has stepped up its efforts to help people reduce the fat in their diets. That's a particularly tall order for the South, where many people soak their food in fatback and grease for flavor.

High-fat diets are associated with a plethora of chronic diseases, primarily heart disease, obesity, certain cancers and stroke.

"Virginia is part of what's called the stroke belt," said Peggy Brown Paviour, a health educator with the Thomas Jefferson Health District who helps run a Project LEAN program in Charlottesville.

There are three Project LEAN programs in Virginia - in Charlottesville, Hampton and Roanoke.

"We don't say that there's a good food and that there's a bad food," said Patricia A. Reeves, a registered dietician and coordinator of Charlottesville's Project LEAN. "We don't say, `Don't ever, ever eat bacon again,' or `don't ever eat sausage again' or `don't ever eat potato chips again.'

"We're just saying don't eat them as often," she said. "And don't eat as much of them. Save those higher fat foods for special occasions."

It's easy to get confused in the assault of advertising at the grocery store. Foods that are low in cholesterol don't mean they are also low in fat, Reeves said.

Project LEAN teaches people how to read labels. The program offers food sampling demonstrations and lectures at local companies. It also modifies recipes to lower fat intake.

With Southern cooking, it isn't necessarily the food that is eaten, but the way it is prepared, Reeves said.

"They use fat a lot for seasoning and that's a big problem," she said. "Our objective is to try and teach them how to eat the same foods, but prepare them with less fat - to season their vegetables . . . with spices, maybe even a leaner piece of ham."

Reeves is compiling the "Heart Luck Cookbook," which features modified lower-fat recipes. She said the cookbook should be ready by May.

The Roanoke Project LEAN already has sold more than 1,000 copies of its low-fat cookbook "An Affair of the Heart."

by CNB