Test all kids for cholesterol, says US government

Here's a school-age test that requires no studying to pass. The US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute wants all children aged 9 to 11 to be screened for high cholesterol levels.

"The reason to start this young is that atherosclerosis, the disease process leading to heart attacks and strokes, starts this young," says Stephen Daniels of the Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora, chair of the NHLBI panel.

Since 1992, children from families with a history of high cholesterol have been screened, but a report last year suggested the strategy misses one-third of high-risk cases. Testing all children should catch those cases.

But not everyone thinks the approach makes sense. "We have not seen evidence to suggest that screening the entire population of 9 to 11-year-olds would throw out the types of benefits sought," says a spokesman for the British Heart Foundation.