Cholesterol Levels. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average cholesterol level for children between 4 and 19 years of age is 165 mg/dL. A pediatrician who tested the cholesterol levels of several young patients was alarmed to find that many had levels higher than 200 mg/dL. The following relativefrequency histogram shows the readings for some patients who had high cholesterol levels.

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 195 Cholesterol level (mg/dL)

Relative frequency 200 205 210 215 220 225