Study links diabetes and overweight teens

Nearly 2.8 million teenagers in the U.S. could be on the brink of developing type 2 diabetes — a disease that used to be almost exclusive to adults — and another 39,000 teens may already have the disease, a University of Washington scientist has estimated in a new analysis of the growing prevalence of diabetes.

The findings support growing concerns among public-health authorities nationwide over the increasing number of kids who are overweight, a major factor in the development of type 2 diabetes. The disease can eventually lead to kidney failure, limb amputations, blindness, heart disease, strokes and high blood pressure.

"What we're seeing is a reduction in physical activity and an increase in the prevalence of overweight kids," said Glen Duncan, the UW assistant professor of nutrition who conducted the study. "These things go hand in hand with diabetes, so this [the findings] is no surprise to me at all."

About 18.2 million people in the United States have diabetes, including 210,000 people under 20, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Another 1.3 million new cases a year are being diagnosed, and the vast majority are type 2, the agency said. The disease formerly was almost exclusive to people older than 40.

Patients with type 2 diabetes are not able to use the insulin made by their bodies to metabolize glucose in the body. Those with type 1, formerly called juvenile diabetes, are not able to make insulin; more than 1 million Americans have that form of the disease.

Duncan's research, reported in the May edition of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, echoes previous findings from the National Institutes of Health that showed a growth of type 2 diabetes in younger people. Duncan used data from extensive national health and nutrition surveys from 1999 to 2002 to reach his findings.

Among a sample of 4,370 youths aged 12 to 19, only 18 had been told by a physician they had any type of diabetes. But blood samples from 1,496 who said they didn't have the disease showed that about 11 percent had impaired glucose tolerance levels, or were "pre-diabetic."

The findings indicated that 39,000 U.S. teens have type 2 diabetes and nearly 2.8 million are pre-diabetic.

For adults, weight loss and exercise have been shown to prevent pre-diabetes from progressing to full diabetes. Physicians believe that's true for young people as well, and family physicians and health officials nationwide have been sounding alarms about keeping young people trim.

For example, Public Health — Seattle & King County recently launched a "Live Outside the Box" campaign designed to reduce or eliminate the 3 to 4 hours a day that children typically spend watching television. The campaign challenges families to live without TV for a week to discover healthier activities.

Seattle community organizations also have been encouraging kids to walk to school instead of riding the bus. Last year, an informal Seattle Public Schools survey found that only about 12 percent of kids walk or bicycle to school.

"We've known this since we've been walking upright," said Duncan. "The human body is made to be active. When it's sedentary, you get real problems, and diabetes is one of them."

Warren King: 206-464-2247 or wking@seattletimes.com