Very Underweight Child with High Colesterol

[yay2domini]

My Son is 12 years old. He has 2 sisters and they are triplets. He is the oldest one. The second oldest one weighs 20 lbs more than him and the youngest weighs 10 lbs more than him. He has high colesterol.He is a very picky eater. And he doesnt eat that much. What should I do?

[Renee Radenberg]

His weight is on the 95th percentile and his height is just above the 25th percentile for his age. He is normal for his age. It is important that the doctor tests the high cholesterol and breaks it out into the ‘bad’ cholesterol --LDL, VLDL and the ‘good’ cholesterol - HDLs, so you know the levels of each. It is good if the HDLs (good cholesterol) are high because they go around in our blood and pull the LDLs & VLDLs out of the blood, back to the liver, to get broken down. Diet is important to help lower cholesterol unless genetically the body produces too much of it, then he may have to go on medication. Diet is tried first before medication at that age. He has to eat a Heart Healthy diet which is a moderate fat diet and a moderate fat diet means = using polyunsaturated (omega 3, corn oil, nuts, etc) fats and monounsaturated (olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, etc) fats, no saturated fats (high fat snack foods, butter, fat spreads) and no trans fats. Eat low fat meats (chicken, fish, loin of pork, egg) or non-meat sources (soy products, nuts), low fat vegetarian combinations (rice & beans, pasta & beans, low fat cheese & pasta), low fat and substitute dairy products (1% milk, low fat/fat free yogurts, low fat soy milk/soy yogurt), use plant oils, non trans-fat margarines, and eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. Eat daily high fiber breads and cereals (oatmeal). He needs to eat 3 meals a day with snacks between meals.