Prevalence of Abnormal Lipid Levels in Children and Adolescents

This interactive visualization displays the prevalence of abnormal lipid levels among cohorts of children. The prevalence data can be filtered by the condition of interest (familial hypercholesterolemia or multifactorial dyslipidemia), type of lipid, cohort, age, sex, race/ethnicity, BMI percentile, or risk (all, family history, or negative family history). Color indicates the cohort. Hover over data points for additional information. This visualization is best viewed on a desktop.

Source: Guirguis-Blake JM, Evans CV, Coppola EL, Redmond N, Perdue LA. Screening for Lipid Disorders in Children and Adolescents: An Evidence Update for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Evidence Synthesis No. 229. AHRQ Publication No. 22-05301-EF-1; Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 2023.

Web Link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK593593/

Note: FH and MFD in this dashboard and in these cohorts were assumed diagnoses based only on the lipid levels and not any genetic results. It is likely that FH present in these cohorts is heterozygous FH since homozygous FH is exceedingly rare.

Abbreviations: CARDIAC = Coronary Artery Risk Detection in Appalachian Communities; CI = confidence interval; FH = familial hypercholesterolemia; HDL-C = high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; hx = history; LDL-C = low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; MFD = multifactorial dyslipidemia; mg/dl = milligram per deciliter; NHANES = National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; PVHS = The Poudre Valley Health System; SOL = Study of Latinos; TC = total cholesterol; TG = triglycerides; yrs = years.

Cohort descriptions:

• Blood Donors: Participants from the Carter BloodCare database in Texas.
• CARDIAC: A cardiovascular risk detection screening program including evaluation for obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and prediabetes. This study included fifth grade children enrolled in schools in West Virginia.
• HEALTHY: Recruited middle schools from seven different geographic areas with student populations at increased risk for type 2 diabetes, defined by authors as having at least 50 percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch or belonging to a racial or ethnic minority group.
• NHANES: Nationally representative sample of children and adolescents combining in-home interviews with mobile examinations and laboratory tests.
• PVHS: The PVHS Healthy Hearts Club study provided cardiovascular screening to 4th grade students who attended a participating school in one of six Northern Colorado school districts.
• SOL: Participants ages 10-16 years, whose parents or legal guardians previously participated in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos. The sample included Latino youth from four cities including New York City, Chicago, Miami, and San Diego.