High Cholesterol

The pediatrician's office just called to say the twins' cholesterol was high at their 2 year appointment (223 and 236 - it should be under 200). I'm going to do some looking online now, and they have to go back to do a fasting test, but has anyone dealt with this? We don't do fast food (just french fries on occassion on the weekend at a restaurant), but they do love their cheese (grilled cheese, quesadillas, etc.).

Thanks in advance,
Mia

 

The pediatrician's office just called to say the twins' cholesterol was high at their 2 year appointment (223 and 236 - it should be under 200). I'm going to do some looking online now, and they have to go back to do a fasting test, but has anyone dealt with this? We don't do fast food (just french fries on occassion on the weekend at a restaurant), but they do love their cheese (grilled cheese, quesadillas, etc.).

Thanks in advance,
Mia

 

I hadn't even heard of testing for cholesterol at that age. We just had our 2 year appt and we didn't do it. I hope it turns out to be nothing.

 

I'm with Trish, I didn't even know they tested for that at this young of an age? Did you request it or is this something your pedi normally tests at the 2-year check-up? I also hope it turns out to be nothing serious.

 

What a PAIN! This is just part of the usual 2 year appointment at my pediatrician's office. They want them to come back to do a fasting test, but since we just got the ok to switch from whole milk to low fat, I'm going to wait a couple weeks and then re-do the test after we've switch to low fat milk and cheese so we don't have to go do lab work AGAIN. It's really perplexing because I'm careful about saturated fats and sugar in their food, and now that I see that it's not even a test that's usually given. The girls are in the 50th and 10th percentile weight-wise (23 and 27 pounds), so it's not like they gave us the test because of their weight.

The pediatrician has their own lab on the premises, so now I'm starting to wonder about why they do this kind of testing on 2 year olds if no one else does...

Best,
Mia

 

I had never heard of it either. I am sort of wondering if a two year old's cholesterol should be higher than an adult's, since we are told that fat is so important in a young child's diet. I haven't really been watching their fat intake, except like you I do avoid the fried foods for them. An occasional grilled cheese or fries here and there at restaraunts, but that's it. Wow, I wonder what my kids' cholesterol is?

 

Because one of my sons suffered a stroke, we had both of their cholesterol tested when they were around 18 months old. I can't remember the exact numbers, but both of theirs came back high. My dh and I had ours tested and our levels were "perfect". We had to do the fasting test with the boys twice to check, and each time it came back high. We were also perplexed b/c they had not eaten any fast foods, etc. We were told to keep the boys on a low fat, low cholesterol diet (which is hard b/c my boys are skinny anyway and it's hard to get weight on them). Joe's neurologist talked about putting him on a cholesterol lowering drug. We also met with a metabolic specialist (they have some other blood clotting issues in addition to the high cholesterol) and he didn't like the idea of using any medication. So, right now we are just trying to eat healthy - low fat/cholesterol, whole grains, organic,etc.. According to all our dr.'s, there could be many kids with high cholesterol and no one ever knows it b/c it is not something that is routinely checked in young children. I don't think there is much you can do about it right now besides watching what they eat, but it is good information to have so that you can keep an eye on it as they age. I believe it poses more of a problem when they are older. Anyway, I hope that helps a little bit. Let us know how the next test turns out!

 

Our pediatrician recommended that they have bloodwork done at their 2 year wellness visit that included a cholesterol test. We opted not to have it done. We had a really bad experience with blood being drawn from the girls once so we try to avoid it if possible. The pedi said that they recommend cholesterol checks because so many kids are eating more fast food than before. We have no family history of high cholesterol and they eat well so we skipped it.

Oh, and our pediatrician sends you to a lab. They don't draw blood in the office.

 

I was just told my girls have high cholesteral as well. I was told to go down to 1% milk and that should make a big diffrence. Let me know how things go with you, im curious.

Dawn

 

I decided to wait for awhile before they do the fasting test so we can give their new diet a chance to kick in. My fear is that my little Kerry, who has maintained her 10% level on the weight chart, may drop now that we're doing less fat in our milk, cheese and butter, but we'll see...I'll let you know.

Best,
Mia

 

The same exact thing happened to me. Our dr. tests if there is a family history of high cholesterol. They did the test in the office and they were high on the girls so we took them for a fasting test. The girls were actually troopers. I was so proud of them. Well, they both have levels in the 170's and my dr. wanted it to be below 170 so they are right on the border. Also, one of my daughters had high triglicerides. Our dr. had us switch the girls to skim milk (we were kind of shocked about that one) and just told us to watch their diet and they will test it again when they turn three. I don't think it has anything to do with weight as my girls are in the 5% and 25-50% and are in much higher %'s for their height so they are actually skinny girls. It just has to do with hereditary and luck of the draw. That's what happened to me. But, everyone I told about doing the testing was shocked. They had never heard of testing at this age.