Is your child at risk of diabetes?

Today Online – Balvinder Sandhu

“Carrying excess weight comes with a whole set of health problems, with one of the biggest being the risk of diabetes. “Type 1 diabetes used to be known as childhood diabetes as many patients are diagnosed from a young age,” said Dr Tan. “The incidence, however, remains stably low in our population (2.46 per 100,000 for children one to 12 years). Type 2 diabetes used to be more common in adulthood but is increasingly being diagnosed in children due to the increased incidence of obesity.” Dr Tan added that while Type 1 diabetes is generally associated with a genetic predisposition, Type 2 diabetes tends to be linked to more modifiable lifestyle factors such as obesity, having a sedentary lifestyle and having unhealthy dietary habits. ” (more)