By Lisa Rapaport (Reuters Health) – U.S. teens are eating healthier diets and showing less severe metabolic syndrome – a cluster of conditions like high blood pressure and elevated blood sugar that can lead to cardiovascular disease, stroke and diabetes – a new study suggests. Along with these shifts in eating habits, teens also developed increased levels “good” high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol that helps purge blood vessels of debris and lower levels of triglycerides – dangerous fats that can make blood thicker, stickier and more prone to clots. “We found that the decrease in severity of the metabolic syndrome was driven by favorable changes in triglycerides and HDL cholesterol,” said senior study author Dr. Mark DeBoer of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.