The American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on Nutrition believes that a child with a family history of either early coronary heart disease or hyperlipidemia should have a complete evaluation, including serum or plasma measurement of cholesterol, other lipids, and lipoproteins. On the other hand, the Committee on Nutrition does not favor universal testing of blood cholesterol levels of children either in the hospital or in the office of the private physician. At this time, the value of routine testing appears outweighed by the disadvantage; office testing has additional limitations.

We believe that universal cholesterol testing should not be part of continuing well child care for the following reasons:

Topics:
cholesterol measurement test
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Copyright © 1988 by the American Academy of Pediatrics
1988