Wong ND; Hei TK; Qaqundah PY; Davidson DM; Bassin SL; Gold KV.
|
Television viewing and pediatric hypercholesterolemia.
|
Pediatrics, 1992 Jul, 90(1 Pt 1):75-9. (UI: 92310880)
|
|
Cholesterol screening for children is recommended currently only for
those with a family history of premature coronary heart disease or
hyperlipidemia. The authors report on a pediatric-office-based
cholesterol screening program where the predictive values of family
history indicators were evaluated along with reported television
viewing, physical activity, and dietary habits in 1081 children (aged 2
to 20 years, mean 7.4 +/- 3.6 [SD] years). Eight percent of these
children had a total cholesterol value of 200 mg/dL or higher; 53% of
such children reported watching 2 or more hours of television daily
compared with 34% of children with lower cholesterol levels.
Multivariate analyses revealed that excessive television viewing was
the strongest predictor for a child to have a cholesterol value of 200
mg/dL or higher, with relative risks of 2.2 for 2 to 4 hours of
television viewing per day (P less than .01) and 4.8 for children
watching more than 4 hours/day, when compared to those watching less
than 2 hours/day (P less than .01). |
In contrast, a positive family
history of a high cholesterol level was only modestly associated with
an increased probability of having a high cholesterol level (relative
risk = 1.6, P less than .05), and a history of premature myocardial
infarction in a parent or grandparent was not associated with a child's
cholesterol level. Excessive television viewing was found to be
associated with certain dietary and physical activity habits and may
prove to be a useful, global marker for several life-style factors
predisposing children to hypercholesterolemia. |