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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | Next >> Graves' team also found that hospitalizations for type 2 diabetes were 1.3 times more likely for boys than girls. Children 9 to 12 years old had the highest rates of hospitalization.
The researchers also found that black, Hispanic and Native American children were at greatest risks of increasing hospitalizations.
The researchers also found that children hospitalized for type 2 diabetes were hospitalized longer than children with type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is a disease caused by the body's inability to produce insulin, and it's not related to obesity. Insulin is a hormone that converts blood sugar to energy for cells.
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The findings were expected to be presented Saturday at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies, in Toronto.
"The dramatic increase in hospitalizations for type 2 diabetes in children reported here confirms this trend and further demonstrates that it affects ethnic minorities disproportionately," Katz said.
The National Cholesterol Education Program considers diabetes such a potent risk factor for heart disease that, in adults, treatment guidelines essentially equate the two, Katz noted.
"There is no reason to think this will be any different in children. If 7- and 8-year-olds can get adult onset diabetes, 17- and 18-year-olds can start getting heart disease. I personally know of a 17-year-old boy, with early onset obesity and type 2 diabetes, who has already had a triple coronary bypass. If current trends persist, cases like his could become the rule rather than the rare and terrible exception," Katz said.
Graves thinks much more needs to be done prevent obesity in children.
"As pediatricians, we must learn to recognize the signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes, and, in turn, educate the next generation of young physicians to be aware of this ever-growing epidemic and how best to prevent and treat it," she said. "Equally important is our duty to further explore the mechanisms causing health disparities in this new and profoundly serious child health problem."
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