A new study by Wake Forest University School of Medicine has reported a saddening finding that has been already impacting the health of a huge number of young people in the United States. According to the study, the prevalence of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes is on the rise in children and young people. The study also found that diabetes occurs more often in non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic children and young people. Wake Forest University School carried out this study as a part of the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth. SEARCH program for diabetes is the largest surveillance effort on diabetes among youth under the age of 20 conducted in the United States.
Between 2002 to 2018, the study reveals that more than 5,200 children were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Additionally, researchers discovered more than 18,000 kids falling in the age group of 10 to 19 suffering from Type 1 diabetes in five locations in the United States alone. For every 100,000 persons in 2017–18, there were 22.2 new instances of Type 1 diabetes, compared to 17.9 new cases of Type 2 diabetes.
The cases of Type 1 diabetes have seen a growth of 2% per year. On the other hand, Type 2 diabetes cases have grown by 5.3% year-on-year. The study pointed out that there are higher rates of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in racial and ethnic groups than non-Hispanic White children. Children of Hispanic, Non-Hispanic Black and Asian or Pacific Islander descent saw the biggest annual growth for both Type 1 diabetes and Type 2 diabetes cases.
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The study also found that Type 1 diabetes diagnosis increased in children aging 10, whereas Type 2 diabetes diagnosis peaked among children of age 16. The study indicated that whereas Type 2 diabetes typically peaks in August, Type 1 diabetes was observed to develop in the winter and peak in January. The researchers have criticized the increase in regular health examinations and sports physicals that occur at the beginning of each academic school year.
The findings from this study will incredibly help in steering the direction of preventative measures, one of the researchers said. “Now that we have a better understanding of the situation, our next stage of research will be studying the underlying pathophysiology of diabetes spreading among the young people of the United States,” the researcher said further. The study focuses on the need for constant evaluation of increasing rates of diabetes in young people and the need for focused prevention measures to bring down the growth rates of diabetes.
