Type 2 diabetes, which was once called adult-onset diabetes because it rarely occurred before middle age, is affecting more and more children, some as young as six years.

Exact numbers are still being gathered, but many doctors say there is an epidemic of type 2 diabetes in youth. At the pediatric unit in one diabetes center, staff said they have seen a 10-fold rise in childhood Type 2 diabetes in the past decade. Complications from the illness include kidney failure, blindness, heart attacks and amputations.

Until recently, almost all diabetes in children was type 1, previously known as juvenile diabetes. Type 1 is caused by an immune system attack on insulin-making cells in the pancreas. Patients are then not able to make insulin, so they cannot convert sugar to energy.

In type 2 diabetes, which typically occurs beyond age 50 or 60, the body can still make insulin, just not enough.

Most children with type 2 diabetes are overweight. Doctors blame the increasing diabetes trend on unhealthy diets and inactivity. They also point out that many kids down several 20-ounce sodas sold in school vending machines each day, which can easily add 1,000 calories daily, all from sugar.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 15 percent of all U.S. children and teenagers, and close to 25 percent of black and Hispanic youth, are overweight.

Doctors note that kids with diabetes tend to be especially large for their age. Most also have a skin condition called acanthosis nigricans, dark patches around the neck and other skin folds, which is a sign of insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance in girls can lead to hormonal upset that results in facial hair, acne and ovarian cysts.

Further, many youths who do not yet have diabetes are at high-risk for developing the condition. According to doctors' estimates, for every child with type 2 diabetes, four or five others have metabolic syndrome, or syndrome X, which put that at high risk. Metabolic syndrome is a combination of obesity, insulin resistance, bad cholesterol counts, high triglycerides and high blood pressure.

Complications from type 2 diabetes in adults can often be reduced or prevented with medicines, weight loss and exercise. However, doctors are uncertain how children who start the disease in childhood rather than their 50s will fare. Many doctors predict that complications will emerge in early adulthood.

According to one study of 51 people with type 2 diabetes that had been diagnosed in childhood, the predictions are on target. Of the participants, who were mostly in their 20s and 30s, two had died on kidney dialysis, three others were on kidney dialysis, one had had a toe amputated and another had gone blind.

The CDC is planning to determine just how many young Americans have diabetes. Estimates start at 6,000, with 800 more to be diagnosed annually, 30 percent of them type 2.

The diabetes association recommends that children be tested for type 2 diabetes if they are overweight and have two other risk factors, such as a parent with the disease or signs of insulin resistance.

Some experts believe that refocusing the exercise and eating habits of the entire society is the only way to stop the epidemic, while others think an approach targeting overweight youngsters would be sufficient.

Yahoo News April, 2003

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Last year we learned that 25 percent of obese children under 10 years of age have diabetes or pre-diabetes. Previously, we knew that about 11 percent of U.S. children are obese. So up to 3 percent of children are pre-diabetic or diabetic. Additionally, if you go back 20 years, only about 2 percent of all cases of new-onset diabetes (type 2) were in people between 9 and 19 years old. Now, about 30 percent to 50 percent of new cases are among this group. This is part of the price we are paying for abiding by the low-fat myth. Many of us have sacrificed our children on the alter of low fat and provided them with supposedly less dangerous grains and sugars. This is a prescription for disaster. Fortunately, diabetes, especially in children, is tremendously easy to treat by following the guidelines I describe in my Total Health Program. These include restricting all grains and sugars and increasing exercise. Earlier this week I saw a husband and wife and their 15-year-old son for their six-week follow-up appointment. While the son did not have formal diabetes, he was very obese and had a fasting insulin level of 60, which is profoundly elevated. Normally anything over 10 is a major problem. Well, the entire family did wonderfully since their initial visit. The mom and son each lost 23 pounds and the dad lost 35 pounds, for a total of 81 pounds between them. The son's insulin level dropped from 60 to 33 and most of his previous dizziness and concentration problems disappeared. I get these types of stories nearly every day in practice, and I am more than convinced that the program works. This program is in no way, shape or form a low-carb diet. Many of my patients are on high-carb diets, getting two-thirds of their diet from carbs. The major distinction, of course, is that the carbs are exclusively from low-glycemic vegetables. I use nutritional typing analysis to determine the percentage of carbs that is ideal for each person. If you're interested, you can take our free online nutritional type test http://www.mercola.com/forms/mt_test.htm to find out your nutritional type right now. Related Articles: Experts Fear Type 2 Diabetes Epidemic in US Children US Children Under 10 May Have Diabetes US Children Under 10 May Have Diabetes