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QuickStats: Prevalence* of Abnormal Cholesterol† Levels Among Young Persons Aged 6–19 Years, by Sex and Weight Status§ — National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, United States, 2011–2014
Weekly / June 24, 2016 / 65(24);637
* With 95% confidence intervals indicated with error bars.
† Includes having at least one of the following: high total cholesterol (serum total cholesterol ≥200 mg/dL); low high-density lipoproteins (HDL) cholesterol (serum HDL cholesterol <40 mg/dL); or high non-HDL cholesterol (serum non-HDL cholesterol ≥145 mg/dL).
§ Calculated as body mass index (BMI) rounded to one decimal place; BMI = weight (kg)/height (m2). The age-and sex-specific percentiles of the 2000 CDC growth charts were used to categorize BMI percentiles as follows: normal weight = ≥5th percentile to <85th percentile; overweight = ≥85th percentile to <95th percentile; and obese = ≥95th percentile. During 2011–2014, 61.3% of young persons aged 6–19 years were normal weight, 15.7% were overweight, and 19.3% were obese.
During 2011–2014, 21.0% of young persons aged 6–19 years had at least one of the three indicators of abnormal cholesterol. A larger percentage of persons categorized as obese (43.3%) had abnormal cholesterol than persons categorized as normal weight or overweight (13.8% and 22.3%, respectively). This pattern was found for both males and females. There were no significant differences between males and females in the prevalences of abnormal cholesterol within each of the weight status groups (e.g., males with obesity compared with females with obesity).
Source: Nguyen DT, Kit BK, Carroll MD. Abnormal cholesterol among children and adolescents in the United States, 2011–2014. NCHS data brief no. 228; 2016. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db228.htm.
Reported by: Duong T. Nguyen, DO, Epidemic Intelligence Service, CDC, dtnguyen1@cdc.gov, 301-458-4400; Brian Kit, MD; Margaret D. Carroll, MSPH; Steven M. Frenk, PhD.
Suggested citation for this article: QuickStats: Prevalence of Abnormal Cholesterol Levels Among Young Persons Aged 6–19 Years, by Sex and Weight Status — National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, United States, 2011–2014. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2016;65:637. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6524a6.
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