Australian
children and
teenagers
are being
diagnosed with
type 2 diabetes
at an alarming
rate. Find out
why experts are
so concerned,
and how you
can help your
own kids avoid
becoming a
statistic
According to the Australian
Medical Association,
children as young as seven are
developing type 2 diabetes,
a disease that can result in
kidney failure, blindness
and the need to have a limb
amputated just 10 years after
diagnosis. So, for a seven-year-
old child with type 2 diabetes,
life would look very different
by the time they turn 17.
Even though Australian
Institute of Health and Welfare
(AIHW) figures show 92 per cent
of diagnoses still occur in people
aged over 40, a 2017 study
reports that, during the next 40
years, type 2 diabetes in children
and adolescents is
estimated to rise to
be four times the
current rate.
Rewind three
decades and it
was a very
different story.
Back then, type
2 diabetes went
by an entirely
different label:
adult-onset diabetes,
because in the past it was
only seen in middle-aged
or older adults.
But in the ’90s, researchers
began to notice a worldwide
shift as more and more young
people started to develop it. A
name change was needed and
the image of a typical type 2
patient had to evolve.
Here in Australia, it’s thought
about 150 new cases of type 2
diabetes are diagnosed
in children and teenagers on
average each year, although
some experts believe there
could be 10 times that number
flying under the radar.
“Like much of the world, the
incidence of type 2 diabetes hasshifted to the left in Australia,
so that there’s now a trend for
it to be diagnosed at a much
earlier age,” says Australian
Diabetes Society chief executive
officer, Associate Professor Sof
Andrikopoulos. “A combination
of sedentary lifestyles and the
increased consumption of
energy dense foods means
more of our young people are
overweight or obese, which
is effectively pushing fast
forward on how early in life
some are being diagnosed
with type 2 diabetes.”
Children from certain
population groups have a higher
risk of becoming a statistic
than others, due to a
combination of
genetic and
socioeconomic
factors.
The AIHW
found
indigenous
children aged
between 10
and 14 are eight
times more likely
to have type 2 than
their non-indigenous
peers, while among indigenous
teens aged 15 to 19, the
incidence is four times higher.An aggressive disease
While type 2 traditionally has
a reputation as being a milder
disease than type 1, Lady
Cilento Children’s Hospital
director of endocrinology
Professor Jerry Wales says the
tables turn when the former
is diagnosed early. “If you’re
diagnosed with type 2 before
the age of 20, unfortunately
your outlook is much worse
than for someone living with
type 1 diabetes, and even many
childhood cancers,” he says.diabetic living MAY/JUNE 2019 109health check