Dr. Joyce Lee and Dr. Matthew Davis used national data on thousands of children to find out if body mass was related to cholesterol levels. They found that if doctors screen all overweight or obese children, they would identify about half of those with abnormal cholesterol, but they would also unnecessarily test 30 percent of the children.
In July 2008, the American Academy of Pediatrics advised pediatricians to screen all overweight children.
"Our results indicate that the AAP guidelines for cholesterol screenings in kids may need to be revised," said Dr. Lee. "Otherwise we may be missing high cholesterol in some kids and unnecessarily testing others."
The study appeared in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
Labels: overweight, research, cholesterol
Posted By: Aspen/CRC
