The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists this simple fact on their website about blood cholesterol levels:  "Having high blood cholesterol raises the risk for heart disease, the leading cause of death, and for stroke, the fifth leading cause of death."*  The good news is, according to some doctors, lowering blood cholesterol levels can help reduce the risk of heart disease.  In fact, Dr. (MD) Jerome Cohen of the Preventative Cardiology Program at St. Louis University wrote that "a 10% decrease in total blood cholesterol levels can reduce the incidence of heart disease by as much as 30%."**  
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I'm an average American dad (now in my late 40's).  High cholesterol runs in my family and even though I've always been somewhat active, my cholesterol reached 235 mg/dL when I was 37 years old.  At the time, I had two young kids and wanted to see if I could lower my cholesterol without taking statins.  Wow, "eat healthy and exercise"... real original, right?  It's not about the information, it's about how to make the lifestyle changes that stick.  The main issue with "eating healthy" is that people think dietary changes are only temporary and unachievable long-term because they leave you hungry and deprive you of good food.  I can tell you, not because I'm a doctor (I'm not), but because I live by these rules and reduced my cholesterol and have kept it low consistently for 10 years.  

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**Cohen JD. A population-based approach to cholesterol control. Am J Med. 1997 Feb 17;102(2A):23-5. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9343(97)00463-4. PMID: 9217582.