Seeing how you and your wife both have high cholesterol, there is a likely chance your child may develop high cholesterol as well. However, diet restriction at this time is not recommended. Instead, the American Heart Association recommends that children at high risk for developing heart disease be screened after 2 years old.
1) If a family member (parent, grandparent, uncle, or aunt) has a cholesterol greater than 240, then the child should have a random cholesterol measure
a) if the child’s cholesterol is less than 170 mg/dL, then the recommendation is to remeasure in 5 years.
b) if the child’s cholesterol is greater than 200 mg/dL, then a fasting lipid profile is recomended.
2) If family member has premature CAD, then the child should have a fasting lipid profile taken directly.
It is important to note that any high cholesterol measurement must be confirmed by repeating the test 2 weeks apart.