Growing Up Too Fast: Children With Adult Diabetes

Filed in archive News on February 27, 2006

All parents have experienced the chagrin of dealing with children who grow up 'too fast:' watching clothes become more revealing, having to forbid the use of make-up, being confronted with candid questions about sex.

But all this pales in comparison to the latest 'adult' trend for children: developing Type 2, or 'adult,' diabetes.

In the last five years, Type 2 diabetes has been diagnosed tenfold in children. Researchers blame rising obesity rates for the development.

From the Daily Mail:

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.

Dr Julian Shield, the Bristol University paediatrician who carried out the research, said: "Until now, we had no idea how many children were being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. It is a shocking figure."

Neville Rigby, of the International Obesity Task Force, said: "The childhood obesity timebomb has already exploded.

"The issue now is facing up to a rapidly worsening scale of problems."This article, which shows the possible effect of a junk food diet, is also interesting.

What do you think? Are researchers overlooking anything, or is diet the main problem? How responsible should parents be held if their child develops Type 2 diabetes?