The rate of new type 1 and type 2 diabetes cases among Americans under 20 years of age is increasing, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
For the study, researchers across five study centers examined census data and health-plan member counts from 2002 to 2012. They identified 11,245 youths aged 19 years and younger with type 1 diabetes and 2,846 youths between 10 and 19 years of age with type 2 diabetes. The rate of newly diagnosed cases of type 1 diabetes increased by 1.8 percent each year during the study period. The rate of new type 2 diabetes increased more rapidly at a rate of 4.8 percent each year. When assessing for gender and racial demographics, the rate of new diabetes cases increased more significantly among males and racial minorities.
"These findings lead to many more questions," said Barbara Linder, MD, PhD, senior advisor for childhood diabetes research at the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. "The differences among racial and ethnic groups and between genders raise many questions. We need to understand why the increase in rates of diabetes development varies so greatly and is so concentrated in specific racial and ethnic groups."
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