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If there is a family history of heart problems our pediatrician starts testing cholesterol at age 4. Not a full panel, just a finger prick to get the total number. When Micah was 4 his results came back high, I can't remember the exact number, between 200 and 210. About the same time Phil and I also had our Cholesterol tests come back high.
I made a few modifications to our diet, like buying skim milk instead of 2% and trying to limit the amount of junk we eat. We have dessert night on Saturdays now, and sometimes I make a batch of cookies or muffins for bible study on Thursday night or if we have company coming, but it is a big change from where we were... I knew that we were eating too much junk when my kids were asking for dessert after breakfast!
Phil and I were able to get our Cholesterol back down to the normal range with minimal effort and I figured Micah would be the same. I am not sure how, but we missed Micah's 5 year check up (probably because we go every 6 months for his asthma and I just figured there had been a physical in there too). Anyway, he had his appointment last month, but just had his blood work done this week. The Dr. called today to give me the results.
Total Cholesterol: 207
HDL: 57
LDL: 119
Triglycerides: 153
In case you are as clueless as I was about what this really means, here is what is considered normal for his age:
Total cholesterol: 170
HDL: above 40 is good
LDL: over 100 is bad
Triglycerides: 149 is the upper limits
So... all this said, I guess this will be the motivation I need to make REAL changes to the way we eat and exercise around here! I enjoy cooking (when I am not exhausted and pushed for time) but I have never liked to worry about things like how much fat, sugar, calories etc. I do try and avoid things like HFCS, MSG and Partially Hydrogenated Oils, but I guess I am going to have to take it a step further. I would love to hear any great recipe's or favorite kid friendly/heart healthy breakfast and snack ideas you might have!
They won't retest him again until he is 8, hopefully we can get this under control now so that it will not be a problem for him later!
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1 comment:
Oh, I'm so sorry to hear it. We don't eat strictly heart-healthy, because we don't have that history, so I don't have any recipes. Our normal dinner is a meat and a steamed veggie. Boring, but not too bad for the heart.
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