Type 2 diabetes, once considered a disease for adults, is increasingly common in tweens and teens.
As childhood obesity has continued its upward trend for the past 30 years, a report in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that this excess weight in young people has corresponded with another troubling health issue: an increase in childhood cases of type 2 diabetes.
Extra body fat makes it more difficult for your body’s cells to use insulin, which is the hormone that turns sugar into energy. This causes blood sugar levels to rise while also causing blood vessels to become stiff. All this can lead to a heart attack, strokes, kidney failure and a host of other life-threatening conditions.
Children used to be primarily affected by type 1 diabetes, formerly known as juvenile diabetes. This occurs when the immune system destroys the cells that make insulin. But, now this dangerous health trend is showing that doctors are also diagnosing type 2 in school-age kids, and occasionally even in toddlers. Type 2 diabetes used to be called adult-onset diabetes because it would take years to develop.
To read more about this disturbing trend go here.
What can you do for your child? Make sure that you consult with a nutritionist to make sure you have a plan to feed your child the nutritious foods they need for a strong, lean and healthy body. You should also schedule appointments for your family to meet with our medical staff. Blood tests can be used to help determine whether diabetes is a factor in your life and the lives of your children.
You can schedule an appointment here.
