Consume moderate (not low) quantities of good oils.  Avoid high fat meals.  Limit bad fats and oils to a small percentage of fat intake.  This can mostly be done by (nearly) eliminating
(a)   partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, which occur in many prepared products,
(b)   fats that are solid at room temperature.
Contrary to once popular belief, babies should also avoid diets high in saturated fats (SN 3/4/95 p.132).

• SATURATED FATS Solid at room temperature.  Associated with some cancers, high cholesterol, and other problems.  Trans fats are worst (SN 11/10/01 p.301).  On the other hand, some saturated fats are needed.  Natural (not hydrogenated) are best and they should be medium (not long) chain fats.
  SOURCES of medium chain:  coconut oil (good), palm kernel oil, (dairy products ?)
  SOURCES of long chain:  mammal fats, (dairy products ?)
• TRANS  FATS Associated with some cancers (SN 1/17/98 p.17) and increased risk of heart disease and diabetes (SN 11/10/01 p.300).  An exception are some conjugated linoleic acids, which boost immunity and reduce cancer risk; however, apparently not enough is present in food and supplements vary greatly in quality. (SN 3/3/01 p.136).
  SOURCES:  partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (e.g., in margarines and many baked goods)
• OMEGA-6 FATTY ACIDS   Needed, but too much can block absorption or usage of omega-3. It is important to keep the omega-3/omega-6 ratio fairly high.
• POLYUNSATURATED FATS   Cholesterol effect nearly neutral: they lower LDL (the bad) and HDL (the good).  They inhibit absorption of vitamin K from salads (Alt. 1/01).  Claimed to be associated with cancer risk, but this may be due simply to fact that more poly usually means less mono.  They include omega-3 and omega-6 which are good, but often the omega-3/omega-6 ratio is too low.
  SOURCES:  vegetable oils, nuts.

Click for help on dealing with high fat meals and information on cardiovascular-cholesterol connections.