In line with new advisory by the American Academy of Pediatrics, kids as young as 8 will need to take drugs in order to prevent high cholesterol and heart disease in adults. The innovative new guidelines inform parents and pediatricians on how to protect high-risk kids for signs which they have already started to develop cardiovascular disease.

The screening test evaluates a child's levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol, "good" HDL cholesterol, and blood fats - also known as triglycerides. High-risk kids are those whose family members had high cholesterol or premature heart diseases, those who have weight problems, diabetes or high blood pressure.

The report proposes cholesterol screening for all plump children, who are susceptible to develop heart disease, and drug therapy to diminish the bad cholesterol, or low-density lipoproteins. High quantity of bad cholesterol and low levels of good cholesterol raise the peril of cardiovascular disease in adults.

A study published this year in the Journal of the American Medical Association alerts that among US children, approximately 30 percent are overweight. This segment of population may have excessive rates of heart disease, diabetes and a blood pressure above what is usual as they grow up, notified the pediatricians.

About 1 percent of children are eligible for drug treatment, declared Peter Belamarich, a physician at the Children's Hospital in New York. The expert said he'll try not to prescribe drugs for his patients, not until there will be more lasting safety data on cholesterol- lowering remedy in kids.