Children and Diabetes, Research Paper Example

Juvenile diabetes has historically been a disease suffered by an unfortunate few children born with a pancreatic condition resulting in insulin deficiency.  This condition is called diabetes mellitus type 1 or more commonly, type 1 diabetes.  This condition accounts for less than 10% of all diabetics and there is no known way to prevent its occurrence.

There are several other types of diabetes accounting for a small percentage of those diagnosed.  Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a condition experienced by a small number of women during pregnancy.  There are several other types and causes of diabetes including diabetes brought on my certain drugs, medications, immune deficiencies, or other factors.  These conditions are rare and not statistically significant.

The most common form of this illness is type 2 diabetes.  This is a condition whereby the body develops a resistance to insulin due to factors that may include obesity, sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, and age.  In the past, most type 2 sufferers were almost exclusively older adults.  Unfortunately, this is no longer true.  Cases of type 2 diabetes in children have been steadily rising for the past few decades to the point whereby the problem has become almost epidemic.  In 2002 (Kaufman R 2002 Type 2 diabetes in children and young adults: A new “epidemic”), the president of the American Diabetes Association cited a 33% increase in type 2 diabetes in children and young adults in the prior ten years (Kaufman, 2002).  By 2005, incidents of this disease among the young had doubled since 1990.

The problem is growing exponentially and must be addressed with fervor.  There are a variety of causal factors precipitating this crisis.  The good news is that most of them are controllable and can be mitigated through education and lifestyle changes.  Most researchers agree that the most significant factor leading to type 2 diabetes in young people is obesity.  The clinical definition of obesity involves some complex calculations relating to body mass index, or BMI.  In practical terms, obesity occurs when a person weighs more than 120% of their ideal body weight.

Occurrences of obesity among America’s youth have skyrocketed in recent years.  Packing extra pounds does not automatically cause a young person to develop diabetes, but it is a significant contributing factor.  Overeating causes the body to produce excessive amounts of insulin.  Over time, the body develops a resistance to the insulin and eventually cannot produce enough to get the job done.  Fatty tissue also contributes to insulin resistance.

Environmental factors also play an important role in this problem.  Kaufman (2002) asserts that up to 80% of pediatric diabetes sufferers have at least one parent with type 2 diabetes.  These parents tend to be overweight as well and have provided an environment conducive to poor eating habits.

A lack of adequate physical activity can contribute to both obesity and an increased potential for type 2 diabetes.  One might picture a person with a “sedentary lifestyle” as a retiree sitting on a sofa in front of the TV with a bag of potato chips in one hand and the remote in the other.  Unfortunately many today’s young people are quickly qualifying for the title of “couch potato.”

Quoting a study by the Kaiser Family foundation, MacPerson (1999) states that children over the age of eight spend an average of 6.75 hours per day in front of the TV.  For many of today’s youth, a reprieve from the inactivity of television watching means turning off the cable box and plugging in an X Box.  While the mind might be more engaged, the body is still at rest.  Computers also lend plenty of opportunities to sit rather than engage in physical play.

There is also an ethnic correlation between new cases of adolescent type 2 diabetes within families of some populations. African-American, Asian-American, Mexican-American, and Native-American populations account for as many as 75% of new adolescent cased in some parts of the country (Kaufman, 2002).  It has yet to be determined if these higher incidents are more strongly linked to genetic or environmental factors although a comparison of historical data might suggest the latter.

Fortunately, the problem of adolescent type 2 diabetes is one that can be remediated.  With an estimated 15% – 25% of America’s children struggling with obesity, the solution is obvious.  Type 2 diabetes (especially in children) is easily treatable.  A common misconception is that when a young person develops diabetes to the point of becoming insulin-dependent, he or she has become a type 1 diabetic and will need supplemental insulin for life.  This is not correct.  Only a person born with those physiological problems that cause type 1 diabetes can have type 1 diabetes.  Everyone else is type 2.

Adolescent type 2 diabetes can be cured in most cases.  When medication is combined with weight-loss, proper eating habits, and sufficient exercise, a young person suffering from this debilitating disease can regain health and improve quality of life.  The problem lays not in the existence of a solution, but in the knowledge of that solution and the willingness to embrace it.

In the case of children, the prevention of this disease and the treatment of it for those who have succumbed rest squarely on the shoulders of their parents.  Adults must come to understand the dangers of this disease and become willing to address the lifestyle and eating habits that can lead to it.  Children are more strongly influenced by what their parents do than in what their parents say.  Given this understanding, parents themselves must become willing to adopt and demonstrate healthier lifestyles.  If not for their own health, the changes are for the children.

References

Kaufman, R. (2002). Type 2 diabetes in children and young adults: A new “Epidemic”. Clinical Diabetes, 22(4), 217-218. doi:10.2337/diaclin.20.4.217

(Macphereson K 1999 Kids spend 38 hours weekly watching, zapping, reading)MacPherson, K. (1999). Kids spend 38 hours weekly watching, zapping, reading.