NCHS: 1 in 5 Kids Has Unhealthy Levels of Cholesterol

Share On Social!

A whopping 21 percent of U.S. children have unhealthy cholesterol levels and more than“8 percent have the most worrisome high cholesterol levels,” CBS News reports.

A survey by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), found that among older children (16-19 years old) 27 percent had at least one measure of bad cholesterol. “And the heavier children were more likely to have unhealthy cholesterol measures.”

“One in five youths had high total cholesterol, low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, or high non-HDL cholesterol,” they wrote.

According to the survey, thirteen percent of children had low levels of HDL often referred to as the good cholesterol.

More than eight percent of children had high levels of LDL or “bad cholesterol.”

Another 14 percent of children aged 6-8 “had abnormal cholesterol levels.”

Experts blame the excess amount of sugary drinks and junk food children are consuming for the high levels of unhealthy cholesterol.

 More than 39 percent of Latino children are obese or overweight, according to Salud America!.

“I look at things like what they are drinking throughout the day. The majority are drinking a lot of sugar drinks,” said Dr. Julie Brothers, a preventive cardiologist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, who was not involved in the study.

Doctors recommend that children eat fruits and vegetables with every meal or snack as well as plenty of exercise.

“We want our kids to live longer than we do and at this point they are not going to,” Brothers told NBC Health.