High cholesterol in children is not necessarily a product of childhood obesity, though that is a part of the problem. It has been shown that you can be fit and still have high numbers. A lot of factors can be blamed.
It is very important that, we, as parents, do everything we can to protect our children from harmful problems. These problems can be immediate, such as failure to immunize a child who then becomes ill or future. High cholesterol at a young age is a good example of that.
Most parents know what needs to be done. We can’t stop all causes of high numbers in our children, but we can do quite a bit. A proper diet is one of the most important, but getting them out to exercise on a regular basis is just as important.
There is more to it than just making sure our children eat properly and exercise. They need to know that this is a life-long process. It doesn’t end when they become adults. In order to do that, we have to do the same things. Our kids will only do about eighty percent of what we do right, but they’ll do one hundred percent of what we do wrong.
You may be wondering why anyone would want to start lowering cholesterol in children, but the problems LDL cholesterol presents can begin quite young. By the age of eighteen, many already have some plaque buildup in their arteries. This can lead to problems well before middle age. If they haven’t learned about diet and exercise young, they could die young.
We need to get our schools involved as well. Some school districts are making sure their students have healthy lunches to eat, but not enough have done so. In this, parents have to unite and make their voices be heard. If all else fails, lunch boxes have come a long way and you can provide a tasty, healthy meal for your child to take to school.
Doctors are recommending that testing start at age eleven. At this age, there may not be a problem, but the child is old enough to understand both the test and the problems should the numbers be elevated. This is a decision that should be made between parent and pediatrician, but it could be a way of keeping our children healthy in the future as well as right now.