Children and Cholesterol

A new study finds that fewer than 1 percent of American teenagers are likely to need cholesterol drugs.
   
Last year, the American Academy of Pediatrics urged doctors to consider those drugs for more kids, even as young as 8. The group
said the drugs should be considered for kids with high levels of so-called “bad cholesterol” and other health problems like obesity and high blood pressure.

But the academy didn’t say how many children might fall into that category.
   
A new study published today helps ease concerns that those numbers might be high.
   
Dr. Stephen Daniels, the lead author of the guidelines appearing in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation, says the
increase in obesity doesn’t seem to be bringing an increase in cholesterol levels.