New recommendation for treating high cholesterol in children raises controversy.

NBC Nightly News reported that "when the pediatricians in this country start talking about cholesterol-lowering medications for children,...it may be one indicator of a very big problem." ABC World News added that U.S. pediatricians have put forth "a new and quite controversial proposal,...calling for an early approach and aggressive approach toward high cholesterol" in children. The Washington Post reports that the "American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on Nutrition has updated its 10-year-old cholesterol screening and treatment guidelines." The new guidelines were published in the July issue of Pediatrics. Comment: This a perfect example of “medicalisation’ of health. To start putting 30-40% of youngsters on medicine for the rest of their lives, rather than holding parents responsible for oversight of their children, is the easy way out and very profitable for the drug companies involved. It seesm like a conflict of interest for the pediatric society.