Experts are Confused as to Why There is an Increase in Diabetes in Kids

Researchers are alarmed due to the fact that the rate at which U.S. children are being diagnosed with diabetes keeps on climbing. The worst part is, they are not sure why. They discovered that between the years 2002-2012, both diabetes type I and diabetes type II had surged sky-high when it comes to diagnosing individuals under 20 years of age. To get into more detail on this, when it comes to the diagnosis of new cases of type II diabetes, there was an increase of about 5% percent each year between 2002-2012. As for type I diabetes (which, for young people, is the most common form) during this period, it increased by about 2% each year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who funded the study together with the National Institutes of Health, admitted that the reason for this rise is unclear.

What Are The Statistics?

NIH's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases’ senior advisor for childhood diabetes research, Dr. Barbara Linder stated that such findings only lead to more questions. And so do the differences between gender, race, and ethnicity. Much more research needs to be conducted on the subject of why diabetes development rates vary so much. And why there's such a concentration when it comes to specific ethnic and racial groups. The New England Journal of Medicine published a study that proved higher diabetes diagnosis rates among minorities. Type II diabetes made up for as much as 90-95% of those cases. And it has risen by 8,5% in Asian Americans ranging from ages 10 to 19. With African Americans in the same age group, it rose by 6.3%. And in Hispanics aka Latino Americans, it rose 3,1%. Now, would you be surprised when we tell you that Caucasians only saw an increase of less than 1%? Latino Americans also saw the highest increase in type I diabetes – 4,2%, followed by African Americans – 2,2% and Caucasians -1,2%. When it comes to gender, women, and girls ranging between 10-19 experienced an increase in type II diabetes by 6,2%. Men and boys in the same age group saw an increase in type II diabetes by 3,7%. And when one looks at the complete picture, across all age groups, males saw an increase in type I diabetes by 2,2% and females by 1,4%. Dr. Giuseppina Imperatore, an epidemiologist at CDC, said that unfortunately, those individuals who develop diabetes at a young age are also more at risk of having complications arise early on. This would lower their quality of life, increase their healthcare costs and even lower their life expectancy.

Sources: USA Today; Better Health