Eat, drink, and be wary of your cholesterol.

That's the message more and more Americans are hearing from their physicians. And the treatment most often prescribed is that dread four-letter word--D I E T. The first major report issued by the National Cholesterol Education Program in early 1988 underscores the importance of dietary treatment. CHN Director Dr. Scott Grundy played a key role in developing the new cholesterol guidelines now in the hands of thousands of doctors.

He's chairman of the diet subcommittee of the Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults. "If a patient is deemed at high risk, dietary treatment should begin in the physician's office," Grundy's report advises. "The view that diet modification is impractical or doomed to failure for most patients is not justified."

Physicians are urged to emphasize to patients that the "diet" is not temporary but a permanent change in eating behavior. This report offers a two-step cholesterol-lowering campaign. If the Step-One Diet doesn't reduce total cholesterol enough, advance to Step-Two which scales down intake of saturated fatty acids and cholesterol even more. Both also promote weight loss in patients who are overweight by cutting excess total calories..