Question: Nibbling and LDL Cholesterol. Some studies by J. Mann at the University of Otago, New Zealand, suggest that nibbling-eating small amounts of food frequently rather than eating three larger meals each day-may be a way to lower cholesterol levels. These were small studies involving hospital patients. (Data from J. Mann, "Cholesterol Worries? Nibble More on Less," Science News, 132, March 13 1993, p. 165.) Design a study that would answer the question, "Does consuming nine small snack-sized meals each day (nibbling), rather than consuming three meals, reduce LDL cholesterol levels?"
Assume that LDL cholesterol will need no transformation. Assume that the mean of the reduction in LDL cholesterol under the three-meal diet will be small and that its standard deviation will be approximately equal to its mean value. Assume also that the standard deviation of the reduction under the nibbling diet will be approximately the same as under the three-meal diet. And assume that you wish to be able to detect a mean reduction under the nibbling diet that is 20% greater than the mean reduction under the three-meal diet.