Children are getting fatter: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that approximately 17 percent of American children weighed too much or could be classified as obese in 2008. Obesity represents a well-known risk factor for type 2 diabetes, and this epidemic in childhood obesity has led to a surge in type 2 diabetes diagnoses in teens and even younger children.
Obesity Rates
Health professionals classify children as obese if they have a body mass index that's higher than 95 percent of other children the same age and height. In 1976, only about 5 percent to 6.5 percent of children and adolescents could be classified as obese, according to the CDC. Those figures grew rapidly through the 1980s and 1990s, although as of 2010 the childhood obesity rate has remained stable since 1999, the CDC said.
Diabetes Cause
In type 2 diabetes, your body can't use the hormone insulin effectively, leading to what's called "insulin resistance," according to the University of Cincinnati's NetWellness website. Since insulin helps your body use the sugar in your bloodstream as energy, insulin resistance causes your body to make even more insulin, which can wear on your pancreas. Once your pancreas can't compensate any longer, you develop type 2 diabetes. Obesity causes insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes Risk
In the past, children rarely suffered from type 2 diabetes, but that's changing, according to the University of Cincinnati's NetWellness website. In fact, type 2 diabetes used to be called "adult-onset diabetes" because it appeared almost exclusively in adults. But rising rates of childhood obesity--a very strong risk factor for type 2 diabetes--have led to many more children and adolescents being diagnosed with the disease. The National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse estimates that more than 186,000 children and adolescents, or 0.2 percent of everyone in that age group, suffer from either type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
Symptoms
While it's simple to identify obesity in a child or adolescent, diagnosing type 2 diabetes can take longer, according to NetWellness. Symptoms include frequent urination, which occurs as the body flushes out excess sugar; extreme thirst, which is related to the frequent urination; and severe tiredness, which occurs when the body can't use sugar properly for energy. Since not everyone who develops tiredness, frequent urination and thirst has type 2 diabetes, it's important to be checked out by a physician.
Prevention/Solution
Children and adolescents who suffer from type 2 diabetes almost certainly need to lose weight, according to the Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, and physicians often refer new patients to weight loss clinics for help with weight loss. If you're a child or adolescent who's been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, your doctor likely will advise you to eat a healthy diet that's low in salt and fat, exercise more often, monitor your blood sugar levels regularly and take any medications that your physician has prescribed, according to the University of Cincinnati.
References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Childhood Overweight and Obesity
- University of Cincinnati NetWellness: Type 2 Diabetes in Children
- National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse: National Diabetes Statistics 2007
- Massachusetts General Hospital for Children: Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes
