Variation in Child Serum Cholesterol and Prevalence of Familiar Hypercholesterolemia: The Health Oriented Pedagogical Project (HOPP)

Ester Fabiani; Martin Frank Strand; Morten Lindberg; Nandu Goswami; Per Morten Fredriksen

doi:10.1177/2333794X221079558

Variation in Child Serum Cholesterol and Prevalence of Familiar Hypercholesterolemia: The Health Oriented Pedagogical Project (HOPP)

Glob Pediatr Health. 2022 Mar 23:9:2333794X221079558. doi: 10.1177/2333794X221079558. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Ester Fabiani^{1

2}, Martin Frank Strand³, Morten Lindberg⁴, Nandu Goswami⁵, Per Morten Fredriksen³

Affiliations

¹ University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Slovenia.
² Alma Mater Europaea-ECM Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia.
³ Kristiania University College, Oslo, Norway.
⁴ Vestfold Hospital Trust, Tonsberg, Vestfold, Norway.
⁵ Medical University of Graz, Graz, Steiermark, Austria.

Abstract

Early stages of atherosclerosis may develop in childhood due to hyperlipidemia. The aims are to investigate the prevalence of familiar hypercholesterolemia in 6 to 12-year-old children and to study the deviation in cholesterol measures. Anthropometric data and venous blood were collected from children participating in the Health Oriented Pedagogical Project (HOPP). Out of 18 children with TC > 6.0 mmol/L, 15 were tested genetically and none diagnosed with FH. The prevalence of TC > 6.0 mmol/L declined from 1.3% in 2015 to 0.5% in 2016. The mean TC was 4.30 mmol/L both years, which is lower than in earlier studies. Usage of a single TC measurement and a threshold of TC > 6.0 mmol/L in screening children for FH, may not be a good screening strategy. While lipid values have a good reliability across 2 measurements, there are variations in individual TC levels across 1 year.

Keywords: children; cholesterol; familiar hypercholesterolemia; hyperlipidemia; prevalence.