2 million U.S. children between the ages of 12 and 19 have a pre-diabetic condition linked to obesity and inactivity. This condition puts them at risk for full-blown diabetes and cardiovascular problems.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, working with the National Institutes of Health, looked at the frequency of abnormally high blood sugar levels after several hours without eating (a condition called impaired fasting glucose) in nearly 1,000 teens. They discovered that:
Elevated fasting glucose can progress to type 2 (adult onset) diabetes over time. Roughly 177,000 Americans under age 20 have diabetes; most have type 1, or juvenile onset diabetes. But type 2 diabetes among youngsters has increased, from only 4 percent a decade ago to 25 percent today.
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. It is hard to believe but children that aren't even yet teenagers can develop type 2 diabetes which is also known as adult onset diabetes.
Last year, researchers estimated an alarming 41 million Americans suffer from pre-diabetes, a condition in which your blood sugar hovers from 110-125. Ideally your blood sugar should not be not in double digits. We can add some 2 million teens to that number. If the course is unchanged we are on target for one-third of all children eventually developing diabetes.
The keys to preventing adult-onset diabetes are simple lifestyle changes that anyone can make. No one needs to suffer from this disease. If you are a parent, I encourage you to get involved in your children's lives to help them make these changes, and also to lead by example.
The Total Health Program is designed to not only treat but prevent diabetes. There are also tools on this site to help you and your family beat diabetes. Here's a simple, three-step plan to help you gain better control over diabetes if you have it, and protect you from it if you don't: