Kids' health predicts parents' future heart disease: study

When children have high cholesterol or blood pressure, their parents may have increased risks of diabetes and heart disease down the road, a new study finds.

The study, of 519 Ohio families, found that a 12-year-old's weight, cholesterol and blood pressure helped predict the odds of a parent developing heart disease, high blood pressure or diabetes over the next three decades.

Researchers say the findings suggest that screening kids could have the "bonus" of spotting at-risk parents.

"Pediatric risk factors - cholesterol, triglycerides, high blood pressure - identified families where parents were at increased risk," said Dr. Charles J. Glueck of Jewish Hospital of Cincinnati, one of the researchers on the study.

One reason that's important, he told Reuters Health, is that many parents may not get check-ups themselves, but will regularly take their kids to the doctor.

However, not everyone agrees that children should have numerous screening tests.

It's standard for children to have their weight and blood pressure measured at "well-child" visits to the pediatrician. But only recently did experts start recommending cholesterol checks.

In November, the U.S. National Institutes of Health issued new guidelines saying children should have their cholesterol measured between the ages of 9 and 11, and again between the ages of 17 and 21. The American Academy of Pediatrics also endorsed the recommendation.

That was a shift from what experts had traditionally recommended - namely, screening cholesterol only in certain at-risk kids, like those with diabetes or a family history of early heart disease.

And some critics questioned the new guidelines, pointing out that there's no hard data showing that screening kids' cholesterol helps their heart health in the long run.

In 2007, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) - an expert panel with federal support - said there was "insufficient" evidence to recommend for or against routine cholesterol tests for children and teenagers.

"There is still a lot of debate going on," Glueck said.

But he thinks the current study, plus another recent analysis of the same group, give some needed information. "Our findings provide some hard data: If you know children's risk factors, what does that tell you? It tells you a lot," Glueck said.

HEART DISEASE, STROKE, DIABETES

The study, reported in the Journal of Pediatrics, included 852 school students who, at an average age of 12, had their cholesterol, blood pressure, triglycerides and weight measured. They were reassessed 26 years later - as were their parents, who were 66 years old, on average.

In nearly half of the families - 47 percent - a parent had suffered a heart attack, stroke or needed a procedure to clear blocked heart arteries by the end of the study period. In 37 percent, a parent had developed diabetes.