Cholesterol

Cholesterol is necessary for the proper functioning of your body. There are two kinds of cholesterol, the LDL (bad cholesterol) and the HDL (good cholesterol). HDLs remove the excess cholesterol from you blood and body tissues. Newly found research suggests that smoking and second hand smoke may reduce levels of HDL cholesterol in children. When there aren’t enough HDLs to “pick up” the cholesterol from your body it can build up and form a plaque that sticks to the walls of your arteries. This can lead to heart disease atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis can eventually cause a stroke or heart attack.

Eating foods that are high in cholesterol or fat adds to this build up as well. Children that are living in a smoking environment, that may have low levels of HDL may need to monitor their fat intake more closely than a child in a smoke-free environment in an effort to prevent a plaque build up.