US child and teen cholesterol down

In the past two-plus decades, average total cholesterol levels have dropped in U.S. children and teens ages 6-19, U.S. health officials found. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found there has been a decrease in average total cholesterol levels over the past 24 years, but almost 1-in-10 had elevated total cholesterol from 2007 to 2010. Dr. Brian K. Kit of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Hyattsville, Md., and colleagues conducted a study to examine the trends in serum lipid concentrations among U.S. children and adolescents. The researchers analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey during three time periods: 1988 to 1994, 1999 to 2002 and 2007 to 2010. The researchers looked for average total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, the "good," cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein, the "bad," cholesterol. From 1988 to 1994 and 2007 to 2010, there was a decrease in prevalence among youth ages 6-19 of elevated total cholesterol from 11.3 percent to 8.1 percent. Among adolescents, there was a decrease in prevalence of elevated LDL and triglycerides between 1988 to 1994 and 2007 to 2010 and a decrease in average serum LDL.