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CHOLESTEROL AND THE CHILD: STUDIES OF THE CHOLESTEROL LEVELS OF BUSSELTON SCHOOL CHILDREN AND THEIR PARENTS 1
Author(s) -
GODFREY R. C.,
STENHOUSE N. S.,
CULLEN K. J.,
BLACKMAN V.
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1754.1972.tb01791.x
Subject(s) - medicine , cholesterol , pediatrics , population , demography , serum cholesterol , endocrinology , environmental health , sociology
SYNOPSIS In 1964 as part of a population study, the blood cholesterols of 1,292 school children in the town of Busselton in Western Australia were examined. A gradual rise in the median value throughout school life was demonstrated in both boys and girls, with a pre‐adolescent rise comparable with similar studies elsewhere. In 1969 the cholesterol levels of the children with the highest, middle and lowest 5% levels in 1967 were repeated and showed a highly significant correlation, thus indicating that a single cholesterol estimation in childhood is of considerable predictive value, at least over a 2 year period. Comparison of cholesterol levels of 929 children with those of their parents revealed a significant correlation between parents and children throughout the whole cholesterol range. It has not been possible to demonstrate whether the cause is dietary or genetic, except in a few cases of genetic hyperlipidaemia, but it is likely that, at least in those children with a cholesterol higher than 250 mgm% of the cause is genetic. The mother's cholesterol is more closely related than the father's to that of the children. This might be due to both a genetic contribution to the children and her role in controlling the diet of the family, this control being greatest on the young children.