Why do kids 9-11 years of age need a cholesterol test? Elizabeth Tracey reports

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About one in five adolescents have cholesterol levels that are too high, and that’s why new guidelines from the American College of Cardiology specify testing children 9 to 11 years of age. Johns Hopkins cardiologist Seth Martin, one of the guideline’s authors, says it’s not just genetics that can get kids into unhealthy cholesterol levels.

Martin: Unfortunately childhood obesity has increased in prevalence over the years and so there are quite a number of opportunities to have diets that have healthier distribution of fat content as well as sugar content. That is one area certainly that earlier lipid testing can motivate with healthier habits, and those healthier habits can help with lipids, they can help with cardiovascular disease prevention, they can help with cancer prevention, other chronic diseases.  :26

Martin says if lifestyle changes like diet and exercise can bring cholesterol levels into normal ranges that’s everyone’s first choice, but for some kids statins will be required and are both safe and effective. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.