3 year old with High Cholesterol
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Anonymous
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We just got back results from a cholesterol test and my 3 1/2 year old son has high cholesterol. He had high cholesterol at his 3 year old appointment and we retook the test today and it came back high again. If anyone has any experience with successfully lowering their child's cholesterol, please post!
My son has always been average height and in the 10th to 20th percentile for weight. He eats veggies and loves fruit, and has never been a good meat eater. He has always been a good milk drinker though so I wonder if that is the problem. We don't eat a lot of fast food - I'd say 1 or 2 times a month. I can't remember the last time we had McDonald's. We eat in a lot and I try to provide a lot of steamed veggies and healthy foods (of course, not perfect, but I don't think we eat a lot of processed foods). My son isn't super active, but we go out to the park/playground/backyard every day. He's super cautious so he's not very adventurous but I do get him to run around every day. I have high good cholesterol and my husband tested high in cholesterol but was able to bring it down with some exercise. We don't have any family history of high cholesterol (at least not that I know of). He will be tested again in 1 month. Thanks in advance for any advice!! |
Anonymous
| you should see a nutritionist. what forms of fats and proteins is your son getting if he's not eating meat? the right balance in proportion to carbohydrate intake is essentail for healthy cholesterol levels. |
Anonymous
| Switch to skim milk |
Anonymous
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Thank you!
I am switching to skim milk. He's been drinking 2% or 1% but not skim. I'm guessing his main sources of protein are from tofu and chobani (greek yogurt) and small pieces of meat that I get him to eat here and there. He eats fish. He does eat a lot of carbs... |
Anonymous
| Oh wow your son sounds like a fabulous eater compared to my 3 1/2 year old DS! Good luck OP, you are doing a great job, don't forget that. I think sometimes this things can be luck of the genetic draw and not something you are doing wrong. |
Anonymous
| hmmm, does ds eat a healthy amount of fiber rich foods like lentils and beans, and other whole grains? Also, raw fruits and veggies? It might not be diet related at all either. How much milk does he drink? If he is drinking a LOT of milk then I'd be concerned about the fat, if not, I wouldn't. Then again, drinking a lot of skim milk isn't the best idea anyway...lower in protein and higher in sugar than the good stuff...not necessarily better for your cholesterol. |
Anonymous
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I had high cholesterol as a kid, and what my parents did was cut back on milk and stop letting me eat egg yolk and red meat. I don't know if that was necessarily the best course of action though. Try adding in more oats (oatmeal, cheerios) and other fiber rich foods like lentils and fruits/veggies.
Just a ray of hope, I have pretty much had low cholesterol my entire adult life (didn't get tested from age 16-20 so don't really know when the tide turned from being high to being low). |
Anonymous
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How high is it? There is a not uncommon genetic condition called familial hypercholesterolemia. Probably it's not that but its the only condition i remember back from my school days where you see high cholesterol in kids. I'm sure there's a zillion other reasons though as well.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001429/ |
Anonymous
| You should really only take the advice of a nutritionist or pediatrician on this. Excluding certain foods might be appropriate for dealing with high cholestrol in an adult but you should be very cautious given some of those foods may be much more important to growing children. Curious why your son was tested for cholestrol in the first place. Is this standard practice? |
Anonymous
Me too. My kid's only ever gotten a CBC & a lead test. |
Anonymous
I think it's pretty standard now. My DD was tested at 2yo, and our ped said they start at 2yo now for all kids in an effort to combat issues early on if there are any. She said the advice they give if cholesterol is high is to switch to 1% or skim milk. We were already giving our DD skim milk, so that wouldn't have been an issue for us if she did have high cholesterol. |
Anonymous
| I also had high cholesterol as a child. Like PP, my doctor had my parents restrict egg yolk, meat, and full fat dairy. The diet didn't do much to lower my cholesterol at all, but as soon as I went through puberty my cholesterol went down to a low-normal level. I raised the issue with our pediatrician and he said high childhood cholesterol is not the same thing as high adult cholesterol...most peds don't test for it because it doesn't mean a lot and there isn't too much you can do about it. |
Anonymous
| OP, why did you have your child's cholesterol tested at 3? Is that a standard thing to have done at the 3 year visit? We're about to take DS for his and I'm curious. |
Anonymous
| My DH's cholesterol has been elevated since age 8 (the first time they checked but most likely since toddlerhood)...familial/hereditary apparently. he has been on meds since middle school and has tried going off of them before but it would creep back up no matter what his lifestyle. FWIW, my DH is former military and an Ironman...he exercise and eats amazingly and his cholesterol is still over 200 unless he is on meds. I'd push for a very thorough exam and make sure there are no underlying causes but it sounds like your dr is following closely. |
Anonymous
| Agree with asking yOur pediatrician and a nutritionist and be wary of adjusting your son's diet without professional consult. one more thing: is he in daycare? The foods many daycares serve are atrociously over processed and high in salts and fats. I have no doubt your home is health, butbj could see forgetting that part of the equation? |