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We all know that type 2 Diabetes is bad, but the situation is probably worse than you realize, thanks to type 2 diabetes in children. This disease affects children in more harmful ways than it affects adults. The painful truth is not only are kids at an increased risk for type 2 diabetes, but they are also subject to more rapid progress of this malady.
Kids and Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes used to be considered a juvenile disease but more adults are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes than children. The same is true for type 2 diabetes. It’s more common for adults to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes than children. However, things may be changing. It’s no secret that there are millions of Americans with type 2 diabetes. However, the diagnosis demographics are undergoing a transformation. Physicians have noticed that more children are now being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Not too long ago, it was almost unheard of for children to have this disease. Today, it’s a different story. Now, the tragic statistics are that one third to one half of all type 2 diabetes patients are children.
The Progress of Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes follows a certain progress. It starts out with prediabetes, a condition in which one’s blood sugar is high or begins to show signs of insulin resistance. From there, the patient declines into greater glucose intolerance, increasing obesity, and even worse side effects. The progress of diabetes follows a fairly standard pattern in type 2 for children and adults, with one notable exception. Children with type 2 decline more rapidly than adults with type 2. An average adult with prediabetes may develop type 2 within ten years. Children with prediabetes may be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in two years.
Type 2 Diabetes Risks in Children
If you keep up with KeyVive’s articles, you know that we often discuss the need for better food for kids. From fatty school foods, to salty snacks at home, to guzzling down sugary soft drinks, children today are flagrant offenders of dietary propriety. We can’t simply point our fingers at the kids, though. Who’s buying the food? Making the food? Marketing the food? Allowing the food? Whether kids are victims or perpetrators isn’t the issue under discussion. What is important is that our kids are at a health risk—a major health risk. A rapid decline from a silent case of type 2 diabetes, to a full-blown type 2 diabetes epidemic is something to be very concerned about. Although it’s painful to admit it, this is a disease that almost every American child is at risk for. Why? Because almost every American is at risk for succumbing to the same poor diet and sedentary weight-gaining lifestyle. This is an emergency.
Overcoming Type 2 Diabetes Risks
The way to conquer type 2 diabetes involves lifestyle changes. Diabetes medication may be necessary, but it is not the best choice for continued health. The good news about type 2 diabetes is that it can be reversed. The onset coincides with increasing obesity. Obese health risks are legion, not the least of which is type 2 diabetes. Fighting extra weight is the number one way to fight this disease.
The commonsense antidote to this risk is basic diet management and physical activity. Doctors tell us that exercising for 30 minutes a day (even if it’s as simple as walking), and shaving off 5% of one’s body weight (for obese or overweight persons) will slash one’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes. In fact, consistent exercise and mild weight loss over a period of three years will reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by at least 60%.
This disease is a real concern, but it is also a very realistic goal to combat the risk. Type 2 diabetes along with its sister condition of obesity is something that we don’t have to live with. It’s time to fight back.
by Daniel Threlfall
