Kids and Cholesterol

America's children are increasingly suffering from cholesterol problems.

You're never too young for high cholesterol. In fact, as many as one-third of American children (from age 2 through the teenage years) have high cholesterol.

It's no surprise. Consider what constitutes kid food in this country: chicken nuggets, boxed macaroni and cheese, and high-fat luncheon meats. School lunches aren't much better. A national survey conducted in 2001 found that 3 of 12 school districts either didn't meet or didn't know if they met USDA nutrition guidelines.

With one in five children overweight and an epidemic in progress of type 2 diabetes among kids, the need to track heart disease risk in children has never been greater, particularly given the mounting evidence that the precursors of heart disease begin in childhood. In the summer of 2002 an American Heart Association committee began recommending that doctors start measuring children's blood pressure at age 3 and blood cholesterol at age 5. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends cholesterol tests for children age 2 or older if their parents or grandparents had heart disease or vascular disease before age 55, or if their parents have cholesterol levels of 240 or higher.

From Cut Your Cholesterol

 

• Healthy Foods
• Cholesterol
• Family Life
• • Children's Health
• • Parenting Kids

• What Exactly Is Cholesterol?
• A substance your body can't live without.
• 
• Show Kids the Way to a Healthy Heart
• It's never too soon to start teaching cholesterol-friendly habits.
• 
• Fun Ways to a Healthier and More Active Family
• Embrace the ultimate exercise machines -- your kids!
• 
• Cholesterol: Myth vs. Reality
• Get your facts straight with these debunked myths.
• 
• Getting a Cholesterol Test
• What you should know about basic and detailed cholesterol exams.
• 
• Heart Disease Risk Factors You're Stuck With
• Know your inborn risks to better manage cholesterol.
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“ Tune out noise. Tote an MP3 player while holiday shopping and listen to calming songs to drown out noisy crowds. ”

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