Kids’ cholesterol drops markedly

WASHINGTON – Against the drumbeat of bad news on obesity and diabetes among children, researchers have uncovered a cause for cautious optimism: a steady and significant improvement in the cholesterol profiles of American kids over the last 20 years.

The proportion of young people ages 6 to 19 with high total cholesterol dropped 28 percent between the two time periods sampled in the report, from 11.3 percent in 1988-’94 down to 8.1 percent in 2007-’10, the new study found.

At the same time, the average American teen’s levels of “good” HDL cholesterol, “bad” LDL cholesterol and triglycerides – dangerous fats that circulate in the bloodstream and slowly clog arteries – improved too.

Scientists said they weren’t sure what had led to the encouraging changes reported Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Use of cholesterol-lowering drugs remains rare among children, they noted. Their best guess is that some environmental factor – perhaps lifestyle changes – may be driving down cholesterol, and several surmised that the improvements were rooted in reduced rates of smoking and the success of campaigns to lower fat and cholesterol in the diet.

The findings “cannot be interpreted as anything but good news,” said Dr. Rae-Ellen Kavey, a specialist in children and cholesterol at the University of Rochester in New York. Kavey acknowledged that she found some of the changes inexplicable, but said she did not question their significance, since improvements were seen in kids of all ages, ethnic backgrounds and even among children who were already obese.

Study lead author Dr. Brian K. Kit, a researcher with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, said that the apparent good news was qualified by the finding that 1 in 10 American children still has cholesterol readings that raise his or her risk for developing heart disease.

Still, the findings may temper a tide of gloom over the prognosis for the nation’s youths, whose obesity rate has tripled over the last three decades. A recent projection by the American Heart Association estimated that the increase would translate into a 16.6 percent rise in heart attacks by 2030.