Watch those chicken fingers!

I can still remember the shock when my pediatrician warned me that my youngest son, then about 8, had to watch his cholesterol. Seems that his love of pizza and chicken fingers were causing his cholesterol to hover around 190, a borderline danger level.

At the time, I thought cholesterol was only an adult problem. How wrong I was. The heart attack in your 50s begins with the plaque that develops when you're a child.

Last week, the American Academy of Pediatrics raised the alarm about kids and cholesterol. They issued new guidelines, saying that drugs used to help control cholesterol in adults - statins - could be prescribed for some children as young as 8. The pediatricians were advocating the drugs only in extreme cases; changes in diet and exercise should be the first step, they said. (After all, the drugs have not been tested extensively on kids and they do have side effects.)

Eating more fiber-rich foods, limiting foods with high sat fat content - think fast food - and exercising go a long way toward lowering cholesterol levels. I speak from experience. My son's cholesterol level has dropped considerably. Chicken fingers have been replaced by grilled chicken, whole milk is now skim milk, and fresh fruits and veggies have replaced the fries. He feels great, and so do I.

Comments

[A Doll]

Hi Joan: I'm excited to see you're blogging too now! Your comments hit home. My teen daughter, a dancer, is now fighting a weight and cholesterol problem. Where previously she ate more wholesome food, now she is old enough to prepare and buy her own and is 20 lb. overweight with high cholesterol. We tried numerous things together but now she's doing aerobic exercise and hopefully will get her health under control soon. Congrats on helping your son learn good habits so early on.

[HoCo]

One of the track and field Olympic athletes said he's been fueling up on McDonald's Chicken McNuggets in Beijing! Guess that beats fried cat heads and scorpions on a stick.