Serum high density lipoprotein and its relationship to cardiovascular disease risk factor variables in children—The bogalusa heart study

Serum high density lipoprotein is increasingly recognized as a negative risk for cardiovascular disease. The distribution and interrelationship of serum lipids, lipoproteins, anthropometric measurements and blood pressures were determined in some 5,000 children. Children had mean±S.D. α-lipoprotein cholesterol levels (mg/100 ml) of 36±15 at birth, 51±22 at 6 mo, 53±18 at 1 yr, 60±19 at preschool age (21/2−51/2 yr) and 68±22 at school age (5–14 yr), reflecting a sharp increase in α-lipoprotein between birth and school-age years, when these levels remained relatively stable through age 14. Although white children tended to have higher levels of total cholesterol and α-lipoprotein at birth than black children, during childhood this trend was reversed and the differences were pronounced in school-age children (p<0.0001). Unlike in adulthood, boys had slightly higher levels of α-lipoprotein than girls. The α-lipoprotein was negatively correlated with pre-β-lipoprotein and to a lesser extent with β-lipoprotein classes. There was an inverse relationship between α-lipoprotein and obesity with a consistently significant relationship (p<0.01) in older children (10–14 yr). Children with higher levels of α-lipoprotein have lower levels of blood pressure, β-lipoprotein and a lower obesity index.