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For the first time, researchers have found that one in four extremely obese children under the age of 10 and one in five obese adolescents under the age of 18 in the US have a condition known as impaired glucose tolerance -- a precursor to type 2 diabetes.
The disease -- formerly known as adult-onset diabetes -- increases the risk of heart disease, kidney failure, blindness and limb amputations. The longer people live with type 2 diabetes, the more likely they are to have devastating medical complications.
The increase in obesity is probably the culprit behind the childhood cases.
People who are overweight are more likely to lose their sensitivity to the effects of insulin, the blood glucose (sugar)-regulating hormone. When the body ignores the hormone, blood glucose rises and, over time, can cause serious medical complications.
The good news is that changes in diet and increased exercise often can reverse impaired glucose tolerance, which, in turn, can prevent or delay the development of type 2 diabetes.
Impaired glucose tolerance is highly prevalent among children and adolescents with severe obesity. Although it is possible to treat obesity, it is extremely difficult and requires both extensive resources and a very highly motivated child and family.
The New England Journal of Medicine March 14, 2002;346:802-810, 854-855
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