[Study from Navarra. Hyperlipidemia II. Variations according to age and sex in the average cholesterol level, LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides in an infant-child population].

As part of an epidemiological study on cardiovascular risk factors among children and adolescents in Navarra, lipids and lipoproteins were analysed in 5,829 children. The study group was selected at random from the school population in our community and included students of both sexes between 4 and 17 years of age. In this article we describe the variations from 4 to 10 years of age in both sexes and decrease from that age on. Among males older than 14, they continue decreasing, while they become stable in females. For this reason, values during childhood are higher than during adolescence in both sexes, and within this period, males show lower levels than girls. Variations in LDL serum levels according to age and sex are similar to those recorded with cholesterol. The triglyceride serum levels increase in line with age among boys. With girls, something similar happens until they are 13. Starting from this age, there is an inversion showing lower levels than the male adolescents. In both sexes, levels during adolescence are higher than during childhood.