08/23/2012

Christina Elston

Diabetes and prediabetes have more than doubled among teenagers in the United States, an alarming trend that has health experts urging parents to pay more attention to their adolescents’ eating and exercise habits.

Diabetes and prediabetes have more than doubled among teenagers in the United States, an alarming trend that has health experts urging parents to pay more attention to their adolescents’ eating and exercise habits.

Among adolescents ages 12-19 in the United States, 23 percent now have diabetes or prediabetes, up nine percent from a decade ago, according to a recent study published in the journal Pediatrics.

People with prediabetes have blood glucose levels that are higher than normal, but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. They could go on to develop diabetes or they could prevent it by lowering blood glucose levels with healthier diet and more physical activity.
In the study, researchers at the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) looked at risk factors for heart disease and stroke in adolescents, examining data on more than 3,300 adolescents participating in a national survey from 1999 to 2008. Along with the increase in diabetes, they found that:

• 61 percent of obese teens in the survey had one risk factor for cardiovascular disease – such as high LDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, physical inactivity or diabetes – in addition to being significantly overweight.

• 49 percent of overweight teens had one additional cardiovascular risk factor.

• 37 percent of normal-weight teens had at least one cardiovascular risk factor.

The study has caught the attention of health providers researching obesity’s dangerous effects. “I think this is an eye opener,” Steven Mittelman, M.D., of the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Center for Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism, says of the study. “Parents really need to think about what their kids are eating and what their activity level is. Parents have to step up and help prevent these devastating diseases that last a lifetime.”

One of every three children with diabetes now has type 2 (which used to be called “adult-onset diabetes,” but is now far too common in children to merit that name), and Mittelman points out that the disease is not easily managed in kids. Adults with type 2 diabetes can improve their health with lifestyle changes and medications, but 50 percent of kids diagnosed with type 2 will end up on insulin within five years – and need it for the rest of their lives.

“Over time, that number will get worse, so eventually most teenagers diagnosed with type 2 diabetes will need insulin,” he says.

The prevalence of obesity among teens did not increase during the study period, and actually “plateaued” over the last decade, says Mittelman, who credits public education about the obesity epidemic with spurring some progress. There are still far too many overweight kids, “but at least it’s not going up like it was 10 years ago,” he says.
Here are his suggestions for parents looking to improve their kids’ health:

• Pay attention during checkups. Doctors should be checking children’s height, weight and blood pressure at every visit, and taking the time to calculate Body Mass Index (BMI, a measure of height related to weight) for patients. Under some circumstances, they should also test kids’ cholesterol levels and test for diabetes.

• Know your family history. Let your pediatrician know if your child’s parents or grandparents have high cholesterol, diabetes or heart disease. Find out what medications your child’s grandparents take, and share that information as well. “That helps us know what might run in the family,” Mittelman says.

• Check out resources that get kids moving. Mittelman recommends the CDC childhood obesity page (cdc.gov/obesity/childhood), Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign (LetsMove.gov) and your local YMCA (YMCA.org) as great places to start.
“I often send my parents who say they have a tough time getting their kids to exercise [to the YMCA],” he says. “They really are focused on healthy weight.”

Mittelman is quick to point out that heart disease and diabetes are just two of the many life-threatening conditions caused by obesity. He specializes in studying the connections between obesity and cancer (and says that 20 percent of cancers in the United States are now caused by obesity).

Studies show that many kids carry their weight problems into adulthood, but Mittelman and other experts consider adolescence a key window for change. And much of that change is up to moms and dads.

“Parents do have the power,” he says.