Lambs from rams (R), cryptorchids (C) and wethers (W) were examined to compare with the dietary guidelines for humans on fat and cholesterol intake. Twenty-four lambs were assigned to treatments as R, C or W at weaning (60 d). Each lamb had ad libitum access to a 77:23% forage:concentrate diet containing 11.7% crude protein and 1.84 Mcal ME/kg. The experiment was terminated when the lambs reached 50 kg body weight. Lipid composition of the longissimus muscle (LM) and s.c. adipose tissue was determined by gas-liquid chromatography. Rams has less (P less than .01) s.c. fat (cm) and i.m. lipid (%) (.26 cm; 3.*%) than W (.56 cm; 4.9%). Total polyunsaturated fatty acids were greater (P less than .01) in the LM of R (7.06%) than in LM of W (5.21%). Rams had higher percentages of C18:2, C18:3, C20:4 and C18:1 in their LM than W did. On the basis of a 100-g serving of LM, R had 1.73, C had 2.15 and W had 2.21 g saturated fatty acids. There were no (P less than .01) differences among sex types for cholesterol content of LM, which averaged 66.6 mg/100 g wet tissue. The only major difference of the s.c. fat lipid composition was in saturated fatty acids. Wethers had higher (P less than .01) saturated fatty acids (51.4%) than C 46.8%) and R (43.3%). Based on the lipid composition of these three types of lambs, the LM muscle from young R lambs approached dietary fat guidelines for humans more closely than did that from castrates.