High Cholesterol in Kids

It comes as a shock to most parents, but high cholesterol is becoming very common amongst kids. Kids today are in the habit of munching on chips and fried stuffs and at the same time they hardly play any outdoor games. They are either sitting a home studying or glued to the computer or TV.

Most of the kids are leading bad lifestyles. They indulge in wrong foods and their physical activity is nil due to their wrong food habits and hectic schedules. Generally high cholesterol is seen in obese kids who consume high-fat diet. Chances are there that kids might get high cholesterol if their parents are suffering from it. Cholesterol is hereditary and can pass down from parent to child.

Kids who have high cholesterol suffer from health problems later on in life. They are likely to suffer from premature cardiovascular diseases. Too much cholesterol leads to the development of plaque on the walls of the blood vessels, which supple blood to the heart and other organs.

Diet plays a very important role in the buildup of cholesterol. Today’s kids love to survive on junk foods. They are forever bingeing on high-fat foods and these excessive fat deposits can build up cholesterol in the body. A high fat diet means diet rich in fried foods, dairy products which include full fat milk and animal products like red meat, pork, liver etc. High fat products also include cakes, chps, biscuits, bhel puri, pakoras, french fries and paneer.

Sedentary lifestyle is not only restricted to working adults who mostly have desk jobs, but to kids as well. Kids these days hardly play any outdoor games. They are more interested in video games and TV. This contributes to weight gain. Parents should take the initiative to take the kids out and make them play. Take them for skating classes, tennis classes or else go for jogging or cycling with them.

Cholesterol can be diagnosed by a simple blood test called the Lipid Profile. By encouraging healthy food habits cholesterol can be kept under check. Child should have a  daily dose of exercise in some way or the other. When it comes to keeping cholesterol under control nothing works better than weight management. Visit a nutritionist who can help you with a diet chart. It is definitely a difficult tusk to keep a child away from tempting food, but mothers should take the initiative by making attractive low calorie food.