Cholesterol tests for kids?

Author: Hugh McPhee, CHKD's PDC Pediatrics

A medical rite of middle-aged adults, the cholesterol test, is now being recommended by Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters for children over 9 years old, even if they do not have risk factors such as obesity or a history of high cholesterol in the family.

These recommendations follow a recent study by the National Institutes of Health and The American Academy of Pediatrics that found that testing only children who had risk factors missed about 50% who had elevated cholesterol and didn't know it.

That study also found that children with high cholesterol levels tend to have higher risk of severe cardiac illness as adults - and the scarring in the arteries can begin decades before a heart attack.

While these findings are important, parents should not worry that a finding of elevated cholesterol will put their children at immediate risk. Elevated cholesterol levels do not cause the sudden cardiac incidents such as those that strike seemingly healthy children on football fields and basketball courts.

In fact, for children who are diagnosed with elevated cholesterol, sports may be the best medicine. The vast majority of children who are found to have high cholesterol will be treated with lifestyle changes that include changing the diet and increasing physical activity. It's estimated that less than 1 percent of children will qualify for cholesterol-lowering medications.

As in all cases involving your child's health, ask your pediatrician about the new guidelines. The tests can be performed in the office of a pediatrician - and all CHKD-affiliated pediatric practices are aware of the new guidelines.

Again, while the danger isn't immediate, controlling cholesterol of your children now can avoid severe and possibly lethal heart disease later in life.