KTIV News 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and SportsRecommendation says kids age 9 should have cholesterol screening

For years there's been a debate on when to start cholesterol screenings. Most say you should start at age 18. But in December the American Academy of Pediatrics made the recommendation to start that testing much sooner.

"Up to one out of five children in America are considered obese, and that doesn't count the number of children who are overweight," said Dr. Joyce. And that's why doctors are so worried about young kids developing high cholesterol. Dr. Steven Joyce with Mercy Medical Center says with that statistic, anywhere from 30-to-50-percent of children are overweight or obese. "Those children are going to be at risk for high cholesterol levels, and those are children we need to screen," said Dr. Joyce.

It's the reason the American Academy of Pediatrics changed its recommendation in December, and is now advising a person's first cholesterol screening come between the ages of 9 and 11. Dr. Joyce says even at that early of an age plague can start building up in the arteries. Genes play a part, but, "Certainly inactivity, the obesity, our children who are inactive, and those children who are at risk for diabetes who have higher blood sugar levels, are certainly the highest risk for developing high cholesterol," said Dr. Joyce. So what if a 9-year-old is diagnosed with high cholesterol? Then what? The debate is still ongoing about the effect adult cholesterol medication will have on a child's body. But, "Everybody agrees that the first step should be diet, exercise, weight loss if that's indicated. And those things alone will start lowering cholesterol levels and lowering risk factors," said Dr. Joyce. And possibly reverse the effects high cholesterol has had on the body.

Mercy Medical Center is offering cholesterol screenings for kids on Saturday, February 11th. It starts at 8:00am at Mercy Business Health & Urgent Care on Singing Hills Boulevard. Kids 9 and up can participate. They're also welcoming adults. It's a fingerstick test and you don't have to fast beforehand. The cost is 25-dollars. Call 712-274-4273 to schedule an appointment.