H&S 9-1

12/02

 

Abstract

Type 2 Diabetes in Children

 

Prepared by:   Youmasu J. Siewe, PH.D; MPH, CHES

Health Education and Family Development Specialist

104 HES, Room 315

OCES, Oklahoma State University

Stillwater, OK 74078

405 744 6825

siewe@okstate.edu

 

Sources:

1.  Oklahoma State Department of Health at: http://www.health.state.ok.us/program/cds/execsummary

2.  National Institute of Health (NIH) Publication No. 02-4805, June 2002

3.  American diabetes Association at: http://www.diabetes.org

 

IMPLICATIONS FOR COOPERATIVE EXTENSION.  There has been a 33% increase in the incidence of diabetes nationally, 300,000 Oklahomans have diabetes, which is the 7th leading cause of death in the state.  This alarming statistic about diabetes makes it necessary to empower the cooperative extension educators to be able to provide basic diabetic education or serve as a resource for needed information at the grassroots level, particularly in reducing type-2 diabetes in childhood. 

Disease growing rapidly among ranks of couch-potato kids.  The American diabetes Association (ADA) reports that Type 2 diabetes which has historically been a grown-up disease is a now on the rise among “couch potato kids”.  Type 2 diabetes has never been known to develop until a person was well into adulthood, and often as a result of obesity. This disease formerly known as “adult onset diabetes,' is being seen in children at `epidemic proportions, and attributed to a rise in childhood obesity.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports an increase in diabetes of 33 percent nationally; and 8-45% percent of children with newly diagnosed diabetes have type-2 diabetes.  As the U.S. population becomes increasingly overweight, researchers expect Type 2 diabetes to appear more frequently in younger, pre-pubescent children.

When are children typically diagnosed with diabetes?
Children are typically diagnosed early in life with type 1 diabetes.  This is caused by a defect in the immune system that blocks the body's ability to produce insulin, requiring patients to have insulin shots for the rest of their lives. Type 2 diabetes is the result of the body's gradual resistance to insulin, often due to family history and chronically bad health habits, including obesity and inactivity.

What causes type-2Diabetes?  It is caused by a metabolic disorder resulting from the body's inability to make enough or properly use insulin. Children and adolescents who develop diabetes typically have the following characteristics:

 

  • Overweight: as many as 80% may be overweight at the time of diagnosis.
  • Older than 10 years of age and are in middle to late puberty.  Cases of Type 2 diabetes in children as young as four years are documented.
  • Have a family history of Type 2 diabetes.
  • Are a member of a certain racial/ethnic American Indian descent).

Type 2 Diabetes in Children (continued)

 

What are the complications of Diabetes?

 

  • Cardiovascular disease caused by atherosclerosis (excess buildup and hardening of the inner wall of a large blood vessel, restricting the flow of blood) accounts for approximately 25 percent of deaths among patients with onset of diabetes before 20 years of age.

 

  • Blindness due to diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy is a more important cause of visual impairment in younger-onset people than in older-onset people. Males with younger-onset diabetes develop retinopathy more rapidly than females with younger-onset diabetes.

 

  • Kidney disease due to diabetic nephropathy. Ten to twenty-one percent of all people with diabetes develop kidney disease. Diabetic nephropathy is the most common cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD), a condition where the patient requires dialysis or a kidney transplant in order to live. In people with Type 1 diabetes who develops proteinuria (protein in the urine), ESRD or death usually follows after about 5 to 10 years.

  • Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is one of the most serious outcomes of poorly controlled diabetes, and primarily occurs in Type 1 individuals. DKA is marked by high blood glucose levels along with ketones in the urine. DKA is responsible for about 10 percent of diabetes-related deaths in individuals with diabetes under age 45.

 

Preventing Type-2 Diabetes in Children

Although genetics plays a significant role in children’s type 2 diabetes, obese children who have at least one parent with diabetes are most likely to develop childhood type 2 diabetes.

More than 5 million children or 11 percent of youngsters ages 6 to 17 years are clinically obese.  It is therefore important that these parents encourage children to cut down on the junk food and increase activity. Specific childhood diabetes prevention strategies should involve the following:

·         Limit computer and television time, so children go outside and play.

·         Learn to pick-up a game of basketball or baseball instead of picking up that bowl of potato chips.

·         Clean out the junk food from the refrigerators and replace with fresh carrot sticks, dips, raisin boxes and yogurt. Keep them accessible to children.

·         Make sure children get five servings of fruits and vegetables and 30 minutes of exercise a day.

·         See a healthcare provider if children seem to have a general lack of energy, a never-ending thirst and/or experiences a gradual slide in school performance.  This could be due to blurred vision, a side effect of diabetes.