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While almost one in 10 children are still living with high cholesterol, U.S. health officials have said that cholesterol levels among children in the United States have improved over the recent decades. 

The study is published in the Aug. 8 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. 

Researchers surveyed about 16,000 children and teenagers aged 6 to 19 during 1988-1994, 1999-2002 and 2007-2010 and found that average total cholesterol levels decreased slightly, but more than 8 percent had elevated total cholesterol in 2007-2010.

While the improvement is encouraging, experts caution that many children remain at risk for heart disease.

"We know that dietary intake of saturated fat and trans fats and exposure to second-hand smoke are related to blood cholesterol, so changes aimed at limiting these may have contributed to the changes that we observed," said study author Dr. Brian Kit, a pediatrician and epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Hyattsville, Md.

It's estimated that almost 17 percent of U.S. youth -- or about 12.5 million kids ages 2 to 19 years old -- are obese.

As America's growing issue with childhood obesity continues, more children are now dealing with adult-like conditions such as  high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol. 

The researchers found that 22 percent of children aged 9 to 11 years had either low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the "good" cholesterol, or high non-HDL cholesterol concentrations in 2007-2010 -- down from about 27 percent two decades earlier. The latter refers to the difference between the total cholesterol concentration and the good or HDL cholesterol concentration.

Average total blood cholesterol decreased from 165 milligrams per deciliter of blood (mg/dL) in 1988-1994 to 160 mg/dL in 2007-2010, the study showed. HDL cholesterol rose from 50.5 mg/dL in 1988-1994 to 52.2 mg/dL in 2007-2010. And high total LDL cholesterol, noted in 11.3 percent of youths in 1988-1994, declined to 8.1 percent in the most recent time frame.

Heart disease is dependent on the control of cholesterol and weight. 

Atherosclerosis -- the buildup of plaque inside blood vessels -- starts in childhood and is linked to high levels of LDL or "bad" cholesterol, low levels of HDL cholesterol and other unfavorable levels of blood fats.

The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommends all children be screened for high cholesterol at least once between the ages of 9 and 11 years and again between ages 17 and 21. However, if a child has particular risk including obesity, he or she can be screened at any time after age 2.