Just when we thought that we knew the “devil” in the battle to keep our children prescription drug free, we have, been rendered another blow by big pharmaceutical companies. Some of us however, cannot be “played” by the marketing machine. What I am talking about here is giving cholesterol-lowering drugs to our kids. It is bad enough that we already have a buffet of drugs that have been approved for use in children by “experts”.

Now, the nation’s pediatricians are recommending wider cholesterol screening for children and more aggressive use of cholesterol-lowering drugs starting as early as the age of 8 in hopes of preventing adult heart problems.

According to the July 13, 2008, issue of the New York Times, “The new guidelines were issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the push to aggressively screen and medicate for high cholesterol in children is certain to create controversy amid a continuing debate about the use of prescription drugs in children as well as the best approaches to ward off heart disease in adults”.

The problem with this new improved magic fix is not limited to one column in a newspaper it could fill several volumes. Let us look at the real problem here, forgetting for a moment the detrimental side effects of statin drugs. Statins are a class of drugs that lowers the level of cholesterol in the blood by reducing the production of cholesterol by the liver. Statins block the enzyme in the liver that is responsible for making cholesterol.

The problem pediatricians are telling us is that, kids are becoming over weight and are starting to have high cholesterol among other things. The solution is not a pill the solution is first, get off the couch. Turn off the video games, pour out the soda, throw away the junk food and get active.

It is bad enough that we have drugged our kids with Ritalin to make them robotic and manageable, now, we want our fat kids to take a pill so they will not have heart attacks while playing video games. Let us give our heads a shake and look at the facts beyond the hype.

Statin drugs for adults have some very severe side effects and the most common side effects are headache, nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, rash, weakness and muscle pain. Memory loss is another common side effect that is sometimes not associated with their use. The most serious side effects are liver failure and rhabdomyolysis. Rhabdomyolysis is a serious side effect in which there is damage to muscles.

I am thinking that this is a classic example of the cure being worse than the disease and simply put, a bad idea. If the best way to control cholesterol is with diet and exercise, I ask, why is it that active kids do not have this so-called cholesterol problem? Come to think of it, why are kids that are outside playing, using their imaginations and not having all three meals consist of junk food being left out? I think that they should have a label and a corresponding drug as well.

Without a doubt I am suggesting that this pharmaceutically manufactured problem does not exist as a stand-alone situation, rather, it is an unfortunate side effect of what our society has become. Before we breed a generation of “poor me” victims with high cholesterol or other similar malady, as parents or caregivers we need to question.

If you are not asking questions you need to start asking, after all, you are the parent. In our society, it seems if your kid is active then they will be prescribed Ritalin. If they are lifeless zombies in front of the game consol, inevitably they will get high cholesterol and will need statins. If your new born infant cries it could mean that, they are depressed and should be prescribed anti-depressants.

Help yourselves do not wait for pharmaceutical help to arrive because it is definitely a wolf in sheep’s clothing.