Juvenile Diabetes Has Risen Ten Times In Teens Under 16
The number of children with type 2 diabetes, which normally presents in middle-aged people, has risen ten-fold in the past five years.
The Royal College of Pediatrics carried out a national audit of all National Health Services diagnoses of Type 2 diabetes in teens under age 16, reported the Sunday Telegraph.
Type 2 diabetes usually occurs later in life, as opposed to type 1 diabetes which is caused by the body’s failure to produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugar.
Doctors blamed obesity for creating a diabetes timebomb which could condemn the younger generation to a life of ill health, including a higher risk of heart disease, stroke, eye and kidney problems.
And they claimed that the figures, obtained by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, were likely to be the tip of the iceberg, with tens of thousands more overweight youngsters at risk of developing the condition.
A further 60,000 children are thought to be suffering from weight-related metabolic syndrome - a combination of conditions including high blood pressure and raised cholesterol - which is thought to precede Type 2 diabetes.
Filed under Blood Sugar Testing, Diabetes, Obesity
