Obese children and adolescents are at an increased risk of developing various health problems, including Type 2 Diabetes and are also more likely to become obese adults. She is among the youngest ever to have the disease. She weighed a little over 77 pounds (35 kilogram), placing her in the heaviest 5% of children in her age group.
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After some tests, Yafi saw that her sugar levels were higher than expected, while she tested negative in the antibodies test. That means that the kid was suffering from type 1 diabetes, which is the auto-immune type of the disease in which the body fails to produce insulin.
In a press release, Dr. Michael Yafi, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of Texas, says the 77-pound toddler brought to his clinic had “symptoms of excessive urination and thirst” but her medical history was “unremarkable” and there was no family history of diabetes.
Because previous studies have assessed the entire eligible obese population, they have likely underestimated the cost benefits of obesity surgery for those with type 2 diabetes, while overestimating them for patients without type 2 diabetes.
Lifestyle factors such as a lack of exercise and being overweight are believed to be contributing factors for type 2 diabetes, which until a few years ago was nearly unheard of in people under 30.
The family had poor nutritional habits, with uncontrolled counting of calories and fat, according to a news release.
Douglas Twenefour, Clinical Advisor at Diabetes United Kingdom, said: “This is clearly a sad case but we are pleased to hear this girl’s blood glucose level has now returned to normal”.
The girl lost weight, which led to her blood sugar levels falling within the normal range.
“The incidence of T2DM [type 2 diabetes] has increased dramatically worldwide in children due to the epidemic of child obesity”.
“It is important to emphasise that Type 2 diabetes is very rare in young children, with most children with diabetes having Type 1, which is not related to weight or lifestyle in any way”.
The child was put on metformin, an oral drug given to people with type 2 diabetes.
Details of the case being presented on Thursday at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Stockholm, Sweden highlights how more and more children are now getting affected by both obesity and Type-2 diabetes. They also started playing in the garden, taking walks in the neighborhood and placed their daughter in a swimming class.
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Type 2 diabetes was unknown in children in the United Kingdom before 2002.
