Regular cholesterol screenings are important. The National Cholesterol Education Program recommends that both males and females 20 years of age and older have a “lipid profile” (or cholesterol test) every five years. Regular cholesterol screenings are particularly important for people who have risk factors such as diabetes, obesity or a family history of cardiovascular disease. Such higher-risk individuals, and people over age 65, may be screened more frequently.

Even children can benefit from having their cholesterol checked because it is one way to identify factors that may adversely affect their heart health as they grow. It has been reported that approximately 50 million children in the United States have high cholesterol levels, which is defined as total cholesterol of 200 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL).

However, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force does not encourage the routine screening of all young children because coronary artery disease tends to begin later in life. Furthermore, starting young children on medication to treat high cholesterol may be more of a risk than the early plaque buildup it is meant to prevent.

Cholesterol screening is fast and relatively painless. Blood is drawn from a vein or through a fingertip “prick test.” Regular screenings are the first line of defense against developing high cholesterol levels. If triglyceride levels are going to be measured, test participants will be asked to stop eating or drinking for approximately nine hours prior to the screening.

This cholesterol screening is only an approximate indication of one’s cholesterol level. Even under normal conditions, the test results may be higher or lower than a person’s actual cholesterol levels by about 14 percent. Also, test results can vary quite a bit even when repeated over a short period of time. Therefore, many physicians will provide results as a cholesterol range (e.g., 150 to 160) rather than an exact number.