Copyright 1988 In a policy statement released last month, the group recommends regular testing for children as young as age 2 who have a parent, sibling, grandparent, aunt, or uncle with very high blood-fat levels.
Children should also be tested, according to the statement, if a close relative has had a heart attack at an early age, which the group defines as under 50 for men and before age 60 for women.
The academy says that, like adults, children who have cholesterol readings that consistently exceed 176 milligrams per deciliter “should be considered for dietary counseling.”
The group supports drug-intervention programs only for children who have cholesterol levels that exceed 200 milligrams and for whom dietary changes have not been successful.
Many medical authorities believe that adults with readings of less than 200 are healthy and that readings over 240 indicate high risk for cardiovascular disease.
The number of school-based health clinics has nearly doubled since 1986, according to a new report.
Research by the Center for Population Options, a Washington nonprofit group, shows that the number has grown from 62 nationally in 1986 to 120 this year.
Slightly more than half of the students who use these services, the group says, have no other primary source of health care. More than one out of three have no form of insurance, according to the report.
It notes that a growing desire on the part of clinic personnel to “avoid controversy” has resulted in a declining percentage of clinics that offer reproductive-health services. Although nearly 9 in 10 of the clinics perform pregnancy tests, about 60 percent make referrals for birth-control services and only 15 percent actually dispense contraceptives.
The Centers for Disease Control reports uneven progress in meeting the 18 immunization goals established by the U.S. Public Health Service for 1990.
The cdc predicts that although it will achieve its objective of having at least 95 percent of the children attending licensed day-care or grades K-12 fully immunized, nearly one-quarter of all children will not complete their immunization series by age 2.
Progress has also been mixed, the cdc says, in efforts to reduce the incidence of diseases for which there is an effective vaccine. Though the number of children and adults contracting diphtheria, rubella, and tetanus has declined, the reported cases of measles, mumps, and pertussis exceed target levels.--ef
