Importance of detecting hyperlipidemia in children and adolescents to manage cardiovascular risk: A cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION: As childhood and adolescence are the periods when cardiovascular risk factors begin to emerge, this study aimed to investigate the serum lipid profiles of the pediatric population in age- and sex-specific partitions.
METHODS: The serum lipids were measured in 9613 pediatric samples from residual material in the Istanbul Public Health Laboratory with age groups stratified as 1-4 years, 5-9 years, 10-14 years, and 15-19 years.
RESULTS: The total-C and LDL-C were significantly high in girls aged 1-4 years, and total-C and LDL-C were significantly low in boys aged 15-19 years. Total-C levels of girls were also different at ages 1-4 and 15-19 years compared with boys. The girls also showed higher LDL-C levels at 1-4 and 15-19 years, non-HDL-C levels at 1-4 years, 5-9 years, and 15-19 years, and HDL-C at 15-19 years compared with the boys of the same age group. The prevalence of hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia, and high LDL-C in the 15-19 age groups was significantly different between boys and girls.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: This study emphasizes the importance of determining lipid profiles during childhood and adolescence and taking preventive actions for cardiovascular diseases by implementing reliable age- and sex-specific cut-off values.