More (and more dangerous) diabetes in young people

We have, unfortunately, had the occasion to report several times within the past month on the rising rate of diabetes among U.S. kids. Yet while most recent studies have focused on obesity-related type 2 diabetes, two new research reports being presented at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) have identified a similar but inexplicable uptick in the prevalence of type 1 diabetes among the nation's children.

Type 1 diabetes is much more prevalent than type 2 in children, presumably because the latter is linked to obesity and a sedentary lifestyle factors that were once rare among children. Now, however, given that a third of the nation's children and teenagers are overweight or obese, the rate of type 2 diabetes increased 21 percent from 2001 to 2009 alone, according to one of the studies presented at the ADA meeting. But, surprisingly, the rate of type 1 diabetes among children also soared by 23 percent over that same time period. According to the study, over 19,000 individuals under the age of 20 had type 2 diabetes, while 168,000 had type 1.

Most troubling, however, is that the complications of diabetes in children seem to set in more rapidly than they do in adults. The first study found that children with either type of diabetes showed early signs of damage to the nerve system that regulates the heart and its blood vessels. It also found that type 2 diabetics were more likely to have protein in their urine than children with type 1, suggesting a greater risk for early kidney damage. The second study bolstered this finding, citing an average follow-up of four years that found that 17 percent of kids diagnosed with type 2 were already showing signs of kidney damage. That study also found that 13 percent of those type 2 children had early signs of eye disease, while one third had high blood pressure.

Medical experts still aren't sure how to explain the rise of type 1 diabetes. Unlike type 2 diabetes, type 1 is an autoimmune disorder with no known means of prevention.

While these studies have not yet been published in the peer-reviewed literature, says ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava, parents should be educated about what actions they can take to prevent their children from acquiring the known type 2 risk factors inactivity and excess weight. Unfortunately, until the cause for the increased incidence of type 1 is better understood, there is no preventive action to be taken.