Don't Forget that Cholesterol Screening...
...for your 8-year old.

The new guidelines were to be issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics on Monday.

The push to aggressively screen and medicate for high cholesterol in children is certain to create controversy amid a continuing debate about the use of prescription drugs in children as well as the best approaches to ward off heart disease in adults.

But proponents say there is growing evidence that the first signs of heart disease show up in childhood, and with 30 percent of the nation’s children overweight or obese, many doctors fear that a rash of early heart attacks and diabetes is on the horizon as these children grow up.

I'm sure the drug companies are not excited about this. The NYTimes issued an editorial today that I basically agree with. I would only add this: if this was an example of our increased medical knowledge about early prevention, we could celebrate. But it sounds more to me like an example of the stress of today's toxic diet and zero-activity rate on children. I suppose the truth may be somewhere in between.