Abstract

There is abundant evidence that the atherosclerotic process begins in childhood. Elevated blood cholesterol levels play an important role in the development of atherosclerosis. In the present study, we measured serum total cholesterol levels in 502 healthy children aged between 4 to 13 years and defined age and sex-specific percentiles. The mean total cholesterol level in overall group was 145 mg/dl. The difference in serum total cholesterol concentration between boys and girls was not statistically significant (p>0.05). We divided children into two groups according to the socioeconomic status of the families, those from lower socioeconomic group and those from middle/upper socioeconomic group. In the lower socioeconomic group, mean total cholesterol levels were significantly (p<0.01) higher than in the middle/upper socioeconomic group in boys and overall children. It can be stated that low socioeconomic status in itself is a risk factor for elevated blood cholesterol levels presumably due to wrong nutritional habits.