Health & Medicine
New Study Reveals Huge Diabetes Increase in Children: Preventative Action Needed
Thomas Carannante
First Posted: May 05, 2014 02:44 PM EDT
The Colorado School of Public Health conducted a study that analyzed data from health plans in various states and found that both type 1 and type 2 diabetes became more common among the youth.
Diabetes affects over 25 million people in the United States and it was estimated in 2010 that nearly 79 million people had prediabetes. In 2010, over 215,000 people under the age of 20 had diabetes. The disease is a considerable issue because it is a major cause of heart disease and stroke and is the leading cause of kidney failure, lower-limb amputations, and blindness.
Through studying health plan data from California, Colorado, Ohio, South Carolina, and Washington, Dr. Dana Dabelea found that the rate of type 1 diabetes in people under the age of 19 rose from 14.8 per every 10,000 in 2001 to 19.3 per every 10,000 in 2009. The rate also increased among those with type 2 diabetes, jumping from 3.4 in 2001 to 4.6 in 2009.
The study, "Prevalence of Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes Among Children and Adolescents From 2001 to 2009," was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Saturday. They estimated changes in the disease over the nine-year period among the U.S. youth by sex, age, and race/ethnicity.
Type 1 diabetes was found to be most common among whites, whereas type 2 diabetes was most common among blacks and American Indians. Not much can be done about the increase in type 1 diabetes since your immune system unintentionally attacks insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Only about 5% of those with diabetes have this type.
On the other hand, type 2 diabetes can be easily avoided. It's the most common form of diabetes caused by aging, obesity, physical inactivity, a poor diet, and other unhealthy habits and aging conditions. It can especially be prevented in children.
"For type 2 diabetes on the other hand, since that's so closely related to obesity it's likely that implementing programs for kids and families being careful of certain things from very early in life is going to be important," said Dr. Dabelea, according to Yahoo! News.
Hopefully many will begin to take preventive measures since diabetes has been a hot button issue in health news. You can learn more about diabetes on the American Diabetes Association website.
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First Posted: May 05, 2014 02:44 PM EDT
The Colorado School of Public Health conducted a study that analyzed data from health plans in various states and found that both type 1 and type 2 diabetes became more common among the youth.
Diabetes affects over 25 million people in the United States and it was estimated in 2010 that nearly 79 million people had prediabetes. In 2010, over 215,000 people under the age of 20 had diabetes. The disease is a considerable issue because it is a major cause of heart disease and stroke and is the leading cause of kidney failure, lower-limb amputations, and blindness.
Through studying health plan data from California, Colorado, Ohio, South Carolina, and Washington, Dr. Dana Dabelea found that the rate of type 1 diabetes in people under the age of 19 rose from 14.8 per every 10,000 in 2001 to 19.3 per every 10,000 in 2009. The rate also increased among those with type 2 diabetes, jumping from 3.4 in 2001 to 4.6 in 2009.
The study, "Prevalence of Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes Among Children and Adolescents From 2001 to 2009," was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Saturday. They estimated changes in the disease over the nine-year period among the U.S. youth by sex, age, and race/ethnicity.
Type 1 diabetes was found to be most common among whites, whereas type 2 diabetes was most common among blacks and American Indians. Not much can be done about the increase in type 1 diabetes since your immune system unintentionally attacks insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Only about 5% of those with diabetes have this type.
On the other hand, type 2 diabetes can be easily avoided. It's the most common form of diabetes caused by aging, obesity, physical inactivity, a poor diet, and other unhealthy habits and aging conditions. It can especially be prevented in children.
"For type 2 diabetes on the other hand, since that's so closely related to obesity it's likely that implementing programs for kids and families being careful of certain things from very early in life is going to be important," said Dr. Dabelea, according to Yahoo! News.
Hopefully many will begin to take preventive measures since diabetes has been a hot button issue in health news. You can learn more about diabetes on the American Diabetes Association website.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone