Screening Children for High Cholesterol

Most parents never know their children’s cholesterol levels. Some should. This is not part of routine blood testing done for children during well baby checks or regular exams by children’s health care providers. In fact, the government’s expert panel says that routine screening is not needed for all children and might lead to unnecessary drug treatment because nearly half of children who have high blood cholesterol are likely to have almost normal levels as adults. However, children meeting the following criteria are at risk and should be screened: 

• If a parent or grandparent had coronary heart disease when aged 55 years or younger
  
  

• If a parent has a blood cholesterol level 240 mg/dL or above (About 90% of children with high cholesterol have a parent who also has high cholesterol.)

• If lipid abnormalities are in the family history

• If a child has a medical condition that predisposes to coronary heart disease, such as severe obesity, physical inactivity, smoking, diabetes, elevated blood pressure, renal disease, and low thyroid activity

• If family history is unknown

• Heredity - whether the child inherited a tendency to have high blood cholesterol
  
  
• Diet - whether the child is eating a diet high in fat that leads to high blood cholesterol and heart risk
  
  
• Obesity - whether the child is seriously overweight and at risk not only for coronary heart disease but also diabetes