I recently had a mom bring her 7 year old daughter into my office, concerned because her cholesterol was high. Huh? Since when are doctors testing for high cholesterol in kids?
Then I got this question from Kelly on Facebook:
Last year, at 5 years old, my daughter's ‘bad' cholesterol (LDL) was elevated, so we improved our diet even more than it had been. We are now all organic and following all of the healthy trends. My cholesterol is ideal, and my husband's has lowered with lifestyle modifications. My daughter was retested this year, and while her HDL (good cholesterol) is great, just under 100, and her triglycerides are very low, just 40, her LDL (bad) spiked to 170!!!! Doctors are baffled, we are baffled, and they are sending her to Children's Hospital for a cardiology appointment.
We currently use organic ghee (new), high quality extra virgin olive oil, and heart healthy red palm oil for cooking. We've been leaning more and more to lower-carb living over the past year, focusing on healthy fats and organic and grass fed protein sources. My kids snack mostly on fruit and cut up veggies. We limit sugar and are a GMO-free household. My daughter is also a tall girl with a very healthy weight, and she is pretty active. Any suggestions are welcomed if offered nicely! TIA!
Um, am I the only one that is BAFFLED as to why we are testing cholesterol of a FIVE year old in the first place and then tormenting this poor family who is already doing everything right?
Why doctors are testing for high cholesterol in kids
According to the New England Journal of medicine, the number of overweight children and adolescents between ages 6 and 19 has tripled since 1970 – and along with it the likelihood of these children developing heart disease, diabetes, and other obesity related conditions as they age.
Because of the mounting epidemic of childhood obesity, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) now recommends that all all children be screened for high cholesterol before the age of 11, and children 1 years old and above be screened if a parent has cholesterol issues or risk factors [trying not to put a row of exclamation points here!].
The new guidelines recommend ways to prevent the development of cardiovascular risk factors and optimize cardiovascular health starting with breastfeeding and emphasizing a diet low in saturated fat starting at age 1 year. The guidelines also encourage protection from tobacco smoke as well as regular physical activity. (source)
Exercise and eliminating tobacco smoke exposure – great! A low fat diet for babies and young kids – meh.
The recommendation was passed along by a panel of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute – and as it turns out, “among [the panel's] 14 members, only five disclosed no conflicts of interest. Peter Kwiterovich, a physician and lipid researcher at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who chaired the cholesterol sub-panel, reported having received $150,629 from Pfizer (the maker of the statin Lipitor) last year.
He has also reported having ties to nine different pharmaceutical companies, including the makers of the statins Zocor and Crestor, and a company that develops and licenses cholesterol tests.”
I don't know about you, but I'm not interested in taking the advice of this guy or his cronies.
High cholesterol in kids (and adults) is not the real problem
According to this article, there haven’t been any new studies showing that screening children saves lives or prevents future heart disease, and there's no reason to think it will.
It may come as a surprise to read that the popular belief that high cholesterol is the primary cause of heart disease is just wrong. Furthermore, diets high in saturated fat and cholesterol neither cause nor contribute to heart disease whereas so-called “heart healthy” vegetable oils are linked to heart disease, cancer and many other conditions. You can read more about this in this well-documented series of articles, and this well-renowned surgeon's opinion on what causes heart disease here.
In my humble opinion, there is no good reason to test children (especially those who eat healthy diets like Kelly's daughter above) for cholesterol.
This fear-based behavior of the medical community is extremely dangerous and may lead down a road of children being subjected to unnecessary dieting and exercise mandates and consumption of toxic low fat foods – not to mention taking ineffective and dangerous medications like statins.
If you're still worried about cholesterol levels for yourself and your children I highly recommend taking simple measures to live a healthier life: Eat REAL food. Stop eating processed junk. Exercise moderately. Sleep enough and manage your stress.
Read more about how to prevent and reverse heart disease here.
What do you think about testing for high cholesterol in kids?
Emily,
Thank you so much for writing about this. I’m Kelly, and the five year old (now six year old) is my daughter. I had my suspicions about the testing, but I didn’t argue, figuring a blood test wouldn’t hurt. It would also allow us the reassurance of seeing a healthy CBC. What frustrates me is that they probably did it because at the time I was still overweight after having my son. I doubt they would have tested her if my very slim husband had brought her to the appointment. The doctor just muttered something about it being standard at 5 in their practice. I mentioned her healthy diet, and he insisted anyway. What’s horrifying is that the dietician at the hospital actually put a sheet in front of us telling us about sterol-fortified margarines we should choose from to give her!!!!! I then proceeded to ask a ton of health and diet-related questions that she just couldn’t answer. By the end of the appointment, SHE was asking ME questions and taking notes. Ironic! Basically, the doctor wasn’t too concerned, saying she (my daughter) is doing everything right and that it is likely a genetic thing. So, we are just continuing to feed her healthy and have added a plant-based sterol supplement. What is your opinion of that? Also, should we get her tested for Celiac or Lyme’s? Should we go gluten free? I can’t imagine what inflammation could be in her healthy body causing the high LDL level. I agree they shouldn’t be tested, but really, what would cause such a high LDL level in such a healthy little girl?! I asked for more advanced testing, and they wouldn’t do it because there was no research to tell them about the results. Of course, that is because no one will make money off such a project. There are healthy LDL-A lipids, and unhealthy LDL-B lipids. The test that is done for this could give us peace of mine, but they wouldn’t do it, most likely because it wouldn’t result in pharmaceuticals. I’m outraged by it all. I am still a bit concerned, but because I follow health blogs like yours, I will not be following any conventional doc’s or dietician’s bad advice. Thanks again for posting! Means so much! I have so much respect for your work! 🙂
Hi Kelly,
I just ran across your blog and while doing research. How is your daughter doing she most be around 10 years old now? My son who is only 5 years old also was found with high LDL levels. And I am just going crazy trying to understand this all. He is at a healthy weight and eats pretty well for his age. I have him snack on fruits and nuts and cook all my meals at home to try and control the amount of processed food they eat. I am now also changing to organic so that we can all stay healthy with him. We have always been a pretty healthy house hold since my husband too has cholesterol problems since he was 24, again he is also very fit and always works out and eats clean. I am so nervous and don’t know what to do they are already talking about possibly putting him on medication for it. But I am not for it at all can you help how has everything turned out with your daughter?
I would be interested in knowing what “normal” cholesterol levels are for children. Since standard cholesterol testing in children is a relatively new practice, is it possible that Kelly’s daughter actually has normal cholesterol for a growing child and the doctor’s are causing this family some unnecessary worry?
I asked all of her doctors this, even the new ones, and I didn’t really get a straight answer. They just said that the one number was too high on any scale. We visit with an Integrative Physician for a third opinion in a couple of weeks. I will post any new information we come across. If the number is actually too high, then I’m glad we got the tests done. I’d hate to think that she’d be laying down plaque despite a very healthy diet, so we really want to make our best decisions with everything she puts into her mouth, not just with most of those decisions. I’m also hoping to get more advice on diet. Maybe there is something in particular that is bothering her, like a food intolerance. Inflammation can cause strange spikes in LDL. We’re going to have additional testing done just to rule things out, like Celiac or even vitamin D deficiency. Perhaps I’ll ask them to re-test for Lyme. She had a tick one month before the first blood test, and it came back negative. I can’t think of much else. She is super active. There are probably healthy things we could add to her diet, like liver or a wider variety of veggies, but I don’t have a darned idea where we would find the healthy kind of liver in NJ. For now, we’re adding some sterols in both whole food and supplement forms. I hope that’s not dangerous, but it seemed the most innocuous advice we received. I’ll post anything new we might come up with, because I’m sure others have been in our position. I have been feeling better after reading some Price articles on cholesterol–and this post, of course!
A low saturated fat diet for children means you aren’t feeding their brain!
I was diagnosed with high cholesterol at age 5, way back in 1990. Doctor’s recommendation was to switch to 1% milk. Wasn’t tested again until college. It was still high, still is. but as you say, it’s not the problem.
Update: My five year old is the one mentioned in this blog, and after seeing through the testing with a Naturopath and great ped, we did find that testing WAS NOT a bad idea at all. She has two confirmed genetic issues that are causing her cholesterol to be high, and because of this knowledge we can get her on the right diet, which is NOT the WAPF diet, in her case. She over-absorbs cholesterol, and she has an enzyme deficiency which causes her to require specialized versions of folic acid and B12. By following a modified Paleo and (gluten-free) and reduced saturated fat, high monounsaturated fat, and high fiber diet, while giving her the vitamins her body can absorb, her numbers are coming down to a healthier level. We also got her a detailed cardiac risk analysis by BHG through our Naturopath, which showed us that she has great protective HDL values. Not that her original peds had anything to do with the results we got, but the original tests did end up helping her longterm health and potential quality of life prognosis. Her N.D. agrees in principle with what you say about cholesterol, Emily, but not in my daughter’s case. We’re all build differently. She will be less likely to build plaque because we saw it through and made good diet modifications. When I went more with WAPF, her levels rose even higher 🙁 There is no one size fits all diet. Additionally, I had some of these tests as well and identified the same vitamin deficiencies due to the genetic enzyme deficiency issue. Testing my child young for cholesterol was a blessing in disguise.
Thanks for the update, Kelly. You’re right, not all children are the same and one size does not fit all. Unfortunately most folks *don’t* have access to a naturopath and a great pediatrician and such testing will often result in kids being on statins and low fat diets unnecessarily. Without knowing you and your daughter personally, I can’t comment on the specifics of your case, but I’m super happy to hear you’re in good hands and getting smart, holistic care.
Kelly,
We live in China and have a Chinese friend whose son’s cholesterol as a very young child was off the charts high (so high, they could not give a number and had never seen such a thing) and he was sick all through childhood even as they tried to avoid fatty, cholesterol-producing foods. He is 13 years old now. She asked me if I could do some research for her online. Would you mind sharing what the enzyme deficiency your daughter had and how you tested for it?
Kelly, how did you go about finding out the enzyme deficiency? My son is 5 yrs old and he had his physical done and in doing so they did a routine lab test. Went back for the results and the doctor said his cholesterol was a little high. I asked how? the doctor thinks milk. We only use 2% at home and the only time milk is used is for cereal. He drinks milk at school so at home he drinks water and juices like iced tea and lemonade. We are not the “healthiest”; we do not “diet” and eat only organic. Sometimes we will have dunkin donuts glazed donuts and sometimes we will eat 5 pieces of bacon in a month. However, we do not consume fast foods, we bake mostly everything. If I sautee on the stove I use a tsp of olive oil. I use sea salt and cracked pepper. Basically, I know we’re not considered the healthiest but no one in our household is over weight. We all excercise. We love fruits and veggies. I’d like to consider us an avaerage American family. We try our best to eat better but we have our flaws. But I didn’t think it was enough to give him high cholesterol. I believe my grandmother has high cholesterol and an aunt but that is it. My 14 yr old son has had the same diet as my 5 yr old since before he was born and his physicals never indicated any issues. So I’m just searching online for more answers. More testings we could do so I can get him better.
I actually am a VICTIM of this insane belief about high cholesterol. When I was a kid in the 80’s, and knowing about cholesterol was just starting, I was tested (for whatever reason) and they found my cholesterol was OFF the CHARTS high, something like 320 was the number. This started around 7-12 yrs old. Of course EVERYONE scared me stupid as to believe what they were saying (given their degree) and that I was so so so young I thought I was going to die (like my Grandmother said due to the fearful doctors).
In retrospect, I was a very active, very very healthy kid before and after this long moment in time. So growing up with the belief that I was doomed gave me chutzpah in turning this hopeless drama to healthy sustainable inner power. So, as any weird kid would do I decided once and for all I HAVE to love myself through this and not be swayed by others beliefs. In fact this whole nightmare was gifting me this, so I used it to the fullest.
If you ‘d like to read my story about it, it’s on my website. But be rest assured that YES diet and environment, and lifestyle play a vital role, but what most of the medical field misses is that the body is more than just a vehicle.
FYI: You might want to look into Org. Coconut Oil as there have been MANY studies done showing how fabulous it is for high cholesterol.
Here’s the direct link to my story (it starts on the third paragraph): http://www.vanessawishstar.com/mediumship/myjourney/
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Many Blessings,
Vanessa Wishstar, ∞ Intuitive Medium
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There are many genetic reasons behind high cholesterol and other enzyme issues. it is better to know and be able to do something than sticking your head in the sand.
familial hypercholesterolaemia is a real issue in children and kids that have parents with high cholesterol should be tested, also MTHFR gene mutation may also increase risk factors.