Rise in Type 2 diabetes cases among kids worries doctors

Dr RM Anjana, MD, Dr Mohan’s Diabetes Specialties Centre, was shocked to see a child as young as 10 years with Type 2 diabetes. She says, “When you see the condition among 50 year olds, the chances of resultant complications arise when they are 70. However, when diagnosed at 10, it means that by 30 they might be seeing complications like amputations and renal failure, etc.” 

Four such case studies of children aged 10, 8 and 7 years with the condition have been published in the February edition of the Journal of Association of Physicians, raising alarm bells. Anjana blames the age of junk food and cola for obesity among children. “Children are not children today. They don’t have a healthy lifestyle and are put under a lot of stress when they are just 6 years. It is scary. 

Indians are predisposed to the condition and the unhealthy lifestyle has been a huge trigger. When we carry out a similar study in the West, we don’t see such cases before 50 or 60,” she points out Dr J Dhivyalakshmi, paediatric endocrinologist, Sri Ramachandra Medical Centre, says that the problem with Type 2 diabetes, unlike Type 1 is that it is often diagnosed late. 

“Those with Type 1 diabetes come in with symptoms like abdominal pain and vomiting that can be caught more easily. Whereas Type 2 is diagnosed incidentally. The parents often say that their ward has been drinking too much water or eating a lot for a year now. Therefore, the diagnosis is delayed,” she says. 

She adds that while one can manage Type 2 diabetes with weight loss and exercises, it is seldom taken seriously by children with the condition. Dr Anjana adds that stressing on discipline and making physical activity a way of life is essential. “The obesogenic environment should change,” she says.