Washington, Aug 29 - Rampant childhood obesity in the US has spurred concerns that such youngsters need to be screened for increased risk of heart disease, including high cholesterol levels.

However, body fat is not an effective indicator of high cholesterol in children, according to a new study led by University of Michigan (U-M) paediatricians Joyce Lee and Matthew Davis.

'We found, actually, that using body mass index to find kids with high cholesterol does not work well. There were many overweight and obese kids who had normal cholesterol, and there were a fair number of healthy-weight kids who had high cholesterol,' says Lee.

The study was conducted after the American Academy of Paediatrics revised its cholesterol screening guidelines in July 2008, advocating a cholesterol check for kids who have increased risk of heart disease.