Facts

Having high cholesterol puts you at risk for heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. People of all ages and backgrounds can get high cholesterol.

America's Cholesterol Burden

• Approximately one in every six adults—16.3% of the U.S. adult population—has high total cholesterol.¹ The level defined as high total cholesterol is 240 mg/dL and above.
• People with high total cholesterol have approximately twice the risk of heart disease as people with optimal levels. A desirable level is lower than 200 mg/dL.
• For adult Americans, the average level is about 200 mg/dL, which is borderline high risk.
• More women than men have high cholesterol in the United States.

Levels Vary by Ethnicity

Below are the percentages of people with high cholesterol in the United States.²

Race or Ethnic Group	Men (%)	Women (%)
African Americans	9.7	13.3
Mexican Americans	16.9	14.0
Whites	13.7	16.9
All	13.5	16.2

Levels Differ by Age

These percentages of people in the United States have high cholesterol.

Age	Men (%)	Women (%)
20-34	9.5	10.3
35-44	20.5	12.7
45-54	20.8	19.7
55-64	16.0	30.5
65-74	10.9	24.2
75 and older	9.6	18.6
All	15.6	16.9

Americans Are Making Progress

• Compared to previous decades, fewer adults have high cholesterol. The proportion of the population ages 20-74 with high cholesterol has dropped by half, from 33% in 1960-1962 to 16.3% in 2003-2006.
• During the same time period, average cholesterol levels fell from 222 mg/dL to 200 mg/dL.

Talk with Your Doctor About Cholesterol

• The National Cholesterol Education Program recommends that all adults have their cholesterol levels checked once every five years.
• During 2005-2006, nearly three-quarters—74.8%—of Americans reported that they had their cholesterol checked within the previous five years.² But, almost all the rest—21.5%—said that their cholesterol had never been checked.
• According to the same data, just 52% of Hispanics had their cholesterol checked within the past five years.
• In 2006, there were 6.4 million visits to doctors' offices that included a cholesterol test. This represents 7.1% of all visits.

References

1. Schober SE, Carroll MD, Lacher DA, Hirsch R. High serum total cholesterol—an indicator for monitoring cholesterol lowering efforts; U.S. adults, 2005–2006. NCHS data brief no 2, Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2007.
2. Roger VL, Go AS, Lloyd-Jones DM, et al. Heart disease and stroke statistics—2012 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation. Epub 2011 Dec 15.