Cholesterol Testing For Kids

We all know high cholesterol can be bad for you, but when is it time to start getting tested? It's probably earlier than you or your children think.

It'll probably come as a surprise to most of us but a new group of experts is now recommending that children as young as 2 get tested for cholesterol.

Many of us suffer from high cholesterol. Untreated it can lead to heart attacks and strokes. Up until now it's mostly been thought of as something adults needed to worry about. But over the past years we've noticed heart attacks and strokes in younger adults and more children with high cholesterol.

And since cholesterol is one of those things that takes its toll over time, getting treatment started early on is the key to keeping it from causing problems later in life. The National Lipid Association has issued new guidelines aimed at getting children tested for cholesterol. The new guidelines call for all children to be tested for high cholesterol when they are 9 to 11. They go one step further and say that if your family has a history of early heart disease than your children should be tested as early as age 2.

Although these are just guidelines, they do point to a growing problem with obesity and high cholesterol in our young children. A problem that if not treated early on, hopefully through improved diet and exercise, can lead to cardiovascular problems in early adulthood.