Children with diabetes are becoming a major problem in this country and around the world. This childhood epidemic is growing. More children are overweight. According to the American Diabetes Association over 80% of children and adolescents that are getting the diabetes disease are overweight.
What is the concern?
A devastating disease that is attacking our children and our teens is type 2 diabetes. Most children that have diabetes are born with it, and this is called type one diabetes, but there is a growing number of children that are acquiring type 2 diabetes, where previously this type of diabetes only happened to mature adults. Over a thousand children are diagnosed every year with diabetes, and more and more of those diagnosed are diagnosed with type 2.
This type of diabetes is a disorder of the metabolism. The body doesn’t destroy the beta cells, but instead creates a resistance to insulin. It starts to use this insulin incorrectly. When this happens the glucose rises in the blood and causes damage to the kidneys and other vital organs.