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Bridget M. Kuehn

JAMA. 2008;299(4):399.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The average total cholesterol level for US adults is ideal for the first time in 50 years, according to the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) show that the mean serum total cholesterol levels for adults aged 20 years or older was 199 mg/dL during the 2005-2006 survey, down from 204 mg/dL during the 1999-2000 survey. The new average also meets the Healthy People 2010 goal of lowering average total cholesterol levels among adults to less than 200 mg/dL.

The percentage of adults with high cholesterol and those with a total cholesterol level greater than or equal to 240 mg/dL has also declined since the early 1990s from 20% during the 1988-1994 survey years to 16% during the 2005-2006 survey. However, most of the decreases in total cholesterol levels occurred in older adults, men older than 40 . . . [Full Text of this Article]