Kit and co-workers examined trends in lipid concentrations in 16,116 US children aged 6–19 years in the time periods 1988–1994 and 2007–2010. The researchers found that mean levels of serum total cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol had decreased, whereas mean levels of HDL cholesterol had increased from 1988–1994 to 2007–2010. In children aged 12–19 years, mean levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides had decreased from 1988–1994 to 2007–2010. Although lipid levels have improved in the studied time frame, the researchers stress that adverse lipid profiles are still observed; for example, almost 1 in 10 children had elevated levels of total cholesterol in 2007–2010.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER
Kit, B. K. et al. Trends in serum lipids among US youths aged 6 to 19 years, 1988–2010. JAMA 308, 591–600 (2012)
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Serum lipid levels have improved in children in the USA. Nat Rev Endocrinol 8, 628 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2012.161
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2012.161