Childhood Diabetes Research Paper
Childhood Diabetes the "New Epidemic" Childhood Diabetes is becoming the "New Epidemic", by children living sedentary lifestyles and poor diets, parents and healthcare providers need to be proactive with identifying those children at risk for getting Diabetes. There has been a growing concern about the recent sharp increase in reported cases of type II diabetes in children and adolescents. Several studies have documented this epidemic. In light of that little is known about type 2 diabetes in children, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) developed a panel of experts to review current trends and to develop consensus about the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of Type 2 diabetes in young people. The consensus statement, Type
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2 Diabetes in children and adolescents (American Diabetes Association, 2000) is extremely complex, while genetic background is important; the alarming increase in new cases of children with type 2 diabetes underscores the role of environmental factors. Puberty has been identified as important in the development of type 2 diabetes in children. Changes in hormone levels during this period cause insulin resistance and decreased insulin action. Therefore, it is understandable that type 2 diabetes in children almost often occurs during mid-puberty although cases as young as four years of age have been reported.
Obesity is another factor.
It is well understood that obese children produce too much insulin that when the need for more insulin arises, they are likely to be unable to produce enough. In addition, the presence of too much fatty tissue leads to insulin resistance. Let me first tell you about what Type 2 Diabetes is. This type of diabetes normally takes decades to develop and is almost preventable form of diabetes. Overtime individuals become less sensitive to their own insulin. The body compensates for this situation by actually making more and more insulin to compensate for this insensitivity. As the blood insulin levels rise, the body is able to still control blood sugar …show more content…
levels.
As soon as these blood insulin levels begin to rise even though your blood sugars remain normal and you do not show any signs of diabetes. The moment you develop insulin resistance, your arteries begin to age much faster than they should.
As long as you are able to keep producing these abnormally high levels of insulin, your blood sugars will remain normal. Nevertheless, over the years, in the overwhelming majority of cases, your body simply cannot keep making all of this insulin. In the majority of individuals with this problem, the insulin levels finally begin to drop. As these insulin levels begin to drop, your blood sugars will then begin to rise and you become diabetic.
You do not wake up one day and developing type 2 diabetes. There are all kinds of early warning signs that you are becoming insulin resistant and at high risk of developing diabetes in the near future. If signs are looked for early some physicians would be able to accurately predict who will almost likely become diabetic 10 to 15 years before they actually become diabetic. It is during this time that you have the best chance of reversing their underlying insulin resistance, slowing down the aging process, and preventing the development of type 2 diabetes. If you knew, you may possibly prevent your child getting diabetes would you pay more attention to what they eat and how active they are. Is it worth the effort? I will let you decide.
Some pediatricians believe that only children who have risk factors for the development of type 2 diabetes need to be screen. The American Diabetes Association consensus panel suggests the following:
I. If age or weight match one of these criteria:
1. Age
a. Children older than 10 years of age
b. At the onset of puberty if puberty occurs early.
2. Weight
a. Children whose body mass index (BMI) is greater than 120 percentile of ideal height.
II. Plus any two of the following risk factors are present:
1. Family history of Type 2 diabetes in a first or second-degree relative.
2. Ethnic background of Black, Mexican, Indian, Asian origin.
3. Signs of insulin resistance
4. Presence of conditions associated with insulin resistance: e.g., acanthosis Nigerians, polycystic ovary syndrome, high blood pressure, and blood fat disorders.
III. When should you screen?
Every two years
IV. How should you screen?
Fasting Blood Sugar
Let us review some of the risk factors that go into identifying a child at risk for getting diabetes. Many factors—usually working in combination—increase your child's risk for diabetes:
• Diet. Regular consumption of high-calorie foods, as fast foods, baked goods, and vending machine snacks, contribute to weight gain. High-fat foods are dense in calories. Loading up on soft drinks, candy and desserts also can cause weight gain. Foods and beverages as these are high in sugar and calories.
• Inactivity. Sedentary kids are more likely to gain weight because they do not burn calories through physical activities. Inactive leisure activities, as watching television, playing video games, or computers, contribute to the problem.
• Genetics. If your child comes from a family of overweight people, he or she may be genetically predisposed to put on excess weight, especially in an environment where high-calorie food is always available. Also diabetes occurs more likely in blacks, Mexicans, Indian and Asian Americans.
• Psychological factors. Some children overeat to cope with problems or to deal with emotions, as stress or boredom. Their parents can have similar tendencies or ignore their child's coping skills.
• Family Factors. Most children do not shop for the family groceries. Indeed, parents are responsible for putting healthy foods in the kitchen at home and leaving unhealthy foods at the store. You may not blame your kids for being attracted to sweet, salty and fatty foods; after all they taste good. But you may control much of their access to these foods, especially at home.
• Socioeconomic Factors. Children from low-income backgrounds are at greater risk of becoming obese and developing diabetes. Poverty and obesity often may go hand in hand because low-income parents can lack the time and resources to make healthy eating and exercise a family priority.
Although the above are, important factors to consider there are other that plays a factor; Puberty has been identified as important in the development of type II diabetes in children. Changes, in hormone levels during this period cause insulin resistance and decreased insulin action. Therefore, it is understandable that type II diabetes in children almost often occur during mid-puberty although cases as young as four years of age have been reported.
Children's diets today are not conducive to a healthy lifestyle. If you are waiting for your child to make the right decision about what to eat, you can be waiting for a long time. The first line of defense is for kids to eat right and exercise. The ultimate responsibility lies with the parent, but there are changes that need to be made in the schools your children attend. Look at school cafeterias: It is difficult for a child to turn down the hamburger and fries and greasy pizza from the cafeteria if the only other alternative is wilted salad that no one eats and has been sitting around for two days. Most elementary schools do not have vending machines present, why does it they seem to appear after the sixth grade. Vending machines have unhealthy choices, they should not be allowed in any school. Kids should have a choice between an apple, a pear, and a banana as a snack. Not between a hostess donut, chips, and sodas. The motive behind this thought is the schools get money from using the machines in the schools. Are we selling out our kids' health? Schools need to come up with more creative ways to raise funds. Kids are spending money they bring to school on junk food. Schools need to sell something else, like pencils, pens, things like that to raise money. Most parents are unaware that the schools get money back from the sales from vending machines.
Fast food in schools, same as with vending machines. Schools get a break or money back for offering McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut. This can change if the parents were asked what they think about fast food in schools and how they would feel if they were removed.
Children's sedentary lifestyle is putting them at greater risk for diabetes. Kids younger than six spend on average of 2 hours a day in front of a screen, mostly watching TV or videos. Older kids and teens spend almost 4 hours a day watching TV or videos. When computer use and video games are included, time spent in front of a screen increases to over five and half hours a day. Kids who watch more than 4 hours a day are more likely to be overweight compared with kids who watch 2 hours or fewer. (Kids Health, 2008)
The figures are staggering. According to the CDC and the National Center for Health Statistics (1999) over nine million or fifteen percent of American children and adolescents between the ages of six and eighteen were overweight, or triple what the percentage was in 1990. The number is growing rapidly and experts say that figure is now at least twenty-five percent. Over ten percent of preschoolers between the ages of two and five are overweight, up from seven percent in 1994. The question would be why are so many kids overweight? Carbohydrates, sugars, everyone has their own theory about why children gain weight, but the reality is, the reason kids gain weight, is excess. You may blame it on everything and anything, but it is really a disease of excess. Excess calories and decrease physical activity. Calories may come from a number of places. Therefore, the cure is balance.
With adults, you may measure the BMI, but with kids, it is more complicated because they go through growth spurts. You may look at the sliding scales that measure height and weight and see where they fit with kids of the same age. Nevertheless, there are red flags—obsession with food: thinking of food all the time as an activity as opposed to a necessity. If all they want to do is, eat and go back to the kitchen again and again. Hoarding or hiding food: You find food in their room; they are embarrassed to let you know they are eating.
The important reason for changing eating habits is that it is a health issue and not about cosmetics.
Children are facing chronic health problems that should not occur for years or decades. Another matter is that even though children are overweight, and their caloric intake is excessive, they are not necessarily well nourished. They are often not getting enough calcium, vitamins, and fiber because many of them do not eat enough fruits and vegetables. Parents need to look at their own eating habits. You cannot expect your children to learn good eating habits if you do not have them yourself. Eating habits are learned. Now your children need to relearn good ones. This can not make parents popular, but it about health not popularity. Keep in mind, one out of every four children is overweight. This is an opportunity to make changes. You need to make changes slowly. Pick one habit you want to change every month, but take your time. Kids take a long time to make changes. Think about what you are going to change next month, for example, one night a week, do not have dessert, have fruit. Get your kids involved, you will win on several fronts here. It is time for parents and kids to catch up, gives the parents help after a busy day, and important, kids will eat more of what they prepared. Sadly, fewer and fewer families eat meals together. Nevertheless, kids love to eat with their parents, and parents should make time to eat with their children so they can work on
eating habits together. It is also a time for families to eat together without distraction. This means no television during mealtime.
Keep healthy food on hand in the house, stock the cupboards with good things to eat. If you know, your child likes tomatoes or oranges, make sure you have them around. Limit high calorie food, if they are not in the house, kids are more likely to turn to healthier snacks. You do not want a kitchen with chips, cookies, candy, and one rotten banana. Amazingly, forty percent of children do not eat breakfast regularly. The obvious reasons children should eat breakfast; it gets their metabolism going, and they are not starving and overeating later. Nevertheless, breakfast is a good opportunity for kids to get the foods they need: fruit, grains and protein. There is no excuse for children not eating breakfast. Parents have to make time. Eggs; keep a bowl of hardboiled eggs on hand. Cereal; whole grain, Cheerios, Raisin Bran, Oatmeal. Even fairly young kids can prepare their own bowl of cereal; fruits kids can grab as they go out the door, if needed.
Parents need to know there are consequences to their children's eating habits and physical activity. Children at the age of ten to fifteen years old without taking care of themselves are at risk for severe medical problems at the age of twenty to twenty-five years old. The societal repercussions are overwhelming. Our healthcare system will be overwhelmed. When a child comes in the doctor's office with sky high blood sugar, the decision to send them home than admit to the hospital is a difficult one. With an adult, you can tell them to change their diet, exercise, and check their levels in a week, hoping they go down. With children, it is risky because you do not know if they understand the seriousness. If the parents do not understand, you have no choice to admit them to the hospital and start them on insulin.
Kids do not want to deal with this, and because they do not deal with it, they end up in the hospital like people with Type 1 diabetes, it can go on and on without being treated. They do not understand how important the diet and exercise is, it is difficult for young children and teens to understand high blood sugar levels. But mostly, it is unrealistic to expect them to make the right decisions about what goes in their bodies when healthy choices are few and far between.
Diet and exercise, it seems so simple, but clearly the message is not getting out because there are so many obese children with diabetes. There is hope for the younger kids though; children in grammar school can still make the lifestyle changes needed if we start working on it now. Do not expect kids to make the right decisions about health if they do not have the education to do so, and they do not have healthy options to choose from. The first line of defense is for the kids to eat right and exercise. The ultimate responsibility lies with the parent, but there are changes that need to be made in the schools. Cafeterias, it is difficult for a child to turn down the hamburger and fries and greasy pizza if the other alternative is wilted salad. After grammar school, is middle school that contains vending machines with unhealthy choices? They should not be allowed in schools. Kids should have a choice between an apple, a pear, and a banana as a snack. Not between a hostess donut, chips and sodas. Some say it is the money for our schools; are we selling out our kid's health? Schools continue to get money from the soda companies when they allow them at the schools. Schools need to come up with more creative ways to raise funds, not at the expense of today's children.
Gym requirements in schools have dropped drastically. Up until fifth grade, fifty percent of schools had a PE requirement. By twelfth grade, that drops to only two percent.
2 Diabetes in children and adolescents (American Diabetes Association, 2000) is extremely complex, while genetic background is important; the alarming increase in new cases of children with type 2 diabetes underscores the role of environmental factors. Puberty has been identified as important in the development of type 2 diabetes in children. Changes in hormone levels during this period cause insulin resistance and decreased insulin action. Therefore, it is understandable that type 2 diabetes in children almost often occurs during mid-puberty although cases as young as four years of age have been reported.
Obesity is another factor.
It is well understood that obese children produce too much insulin that when the need for more insulin arises, they are likely to be unable to produce enough. In addition, the presence of too much fatty tissue leads to insulin resistance. Let me first tell you about what Type 2 Diabetes is. This type of diabetes normally takes decades to develop and is almost preventable form of diabetes. Overtime individuals become less sensitive to their own insulin. The body compensates for this situation by actually making more and more insulin to compensate for this insensitivity. As the blood insulin levels rise, the body is able to still control blood sugar …show more content…
levels.
As soon as these blood insulin levels begin to rise even though your blood sugars remain normal and you do not show any signs of diabetes. The moment you develop insulin resistance, your arteries begin to age much faster than they should.
As long as you are able to keep producing these abnormally high levels of insulin, your blood sugars will remain normal. Nevertheless, over the years, in the overwhelming majority of cases, your body simply cannot keep making all of this insulin. In the majority of individuals with this problem, the insulin levels finally begin to drop. As these insulin levels begin to drop, your blood sugars will then begin to rise and you become diabetic.
You do not wake up one day and developing type 2 diabetes. There are all kinds of early warning signs that you are becoming insulin resistant and at high risk of developing diabetes in the near future. If signs are looked for early some physicians would be able to accurately predict who will almost likely become diabetic 10 to 15 years before they actually become diabetic. It is during this time that you have the best chance of reversing their underlying insulin resistance, slowing down the aging process, and preventing the development of type 2 diabetes. If you knew, you may possibly prevent your child getting diabetes would you pay more attention to what they eat and how active they are. Is it worth the effort? I will let you decide.
Some pediatricians believe that only children who have risk factors for the development of type 2 diabetes need to be screen. The American Diabetes Association consensus panel suggests the following:
I. If age or weight match one of these criteria:
1. Age
a. Children older than 10 years of age
b. At the onset of puberty if puberty occurs early.
2. Weight
a. Children whose body mass index (BMI) is greater than 120 percentile of ideal height.
II. Plus any two of the following risk factors are present:
1. Family history of Type 2 diabetes in a first or second-degree relative.
2. Ethnic background of Black, Mexican, Indian, Asian origin.
3. Signs of insulin resistance
4. Presence of conditions associated with insulin resistance: e.g., acanthosis Nigerians, polycystic ovary syndrome, high blood pressure, and blood fat disorders.
III. When should you screen?
Every two years
IV. How should you screen?
Fasting Blood Sugar
Let us review some of the risk factors that go into identifying a child at risk for getting diabetes. Many factors—usually working in combination—increase your child's risk for diabetes:
• Diet. Regular consumption of high-calorie foods, as fast foods, baked goods, and vending machine snacks, contribute to weight gain. High-fat foods are dense in calories. Loading up on soft drinks, candy and desserts also can cause weight gain. Foods and beverages as these are high in sugar and calories.
• Inactivity. Sedentary kids are more likely to gain weight because they do not burn calories through physical activities. Inactive leisure activities, as watching television, playing video games, or computers, contribute to the problem.
• Genetics. If your child comes from a family of overweight people, he or she may be genetically predisposed to put on excess weight, especially in an environment where high-calorie food is always available. Also diabetes occurs more likely in blacks, Mexicans, Indian and Asian Americans.
• Psychological factors. Some children overeat to cope with problems or to deal with emotions, as stress or boredom. Their parents can have similar tendencies or ignore their child's coping skills.
• Family Factors. Most children do not shop for the family groceries. Indeed, parents are responsible for putting healthy foods in the kitchen at home and leaving unhealthy foods at the store. You may not blame your kids for being attracted to sweet, salty and fatty foods; after all they taste good. But you may control much of their access to these foods, especially at home.
• Socioeconomic Factors. Children from low-income backgrounds are at greater risk of becoming obese and developing diabetes. Poverty and obesity often may go hand in hand because low-income parents can lack the time and resources to make healthy eating and exercise a family priority.
Although the above are, important factors to consider there are other that plays a factor; Puberty has been identified as important in the development of type II diabetes in children. Changes, in hormone levels during this period cause insulin resistance and decreased insulin action. Therefore, it is understandable that type II diabetes in children almost often occur during mid-puberty although cases as young as four years of age have been reported.
Children's diets today are not conducive to a healthy lifestyle. If you are waiting for your child to make the right decision about what to eat, you can be waiting for a long time. The first line of defense is for kids to eat right and exercise. The ultimate responsibility lies with the parent, but there are changes that need to be made in the schools your children attend. Look at school cafeterias: It is difficult for a child to turn down the hamburger and fries and greasy pizza from the cafeteria if the only other alternative is wilted salad that no one eats and has been sitting around for two days. Most elementary schools do not have vending machines present, why does it they seem to appear after the sixth grade. Vending machines have unhealthy choices, they should not be allowed in any school. Kids should have a choice between an apple, a pear, and a banana as a snack. Not between a hostess donut, chips, and sodas. The motive behind this thought is the schools get money from using the machines in the schools. Are we selling out our kids' health? Schools need to come up with more creative ways to raise funds. Kids are spending money they bring to school on junk food. Schools need to sell something else, like pencils, pens, things like that to raise money. Most parents are unaware that the schools get money back from the sales from vending machines.
Fast food in schools, same as with vending machines. Schools get a break or money back for offering McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut. This can change if the parents were asked what they think about fast food in schools and how they would feel if they were removed.
Children's sedentary lifestyle is putting them at greater risk for diabetes. Kids younger than six spend on average of 2 hours a day in front of a screen, mostly watching TV or videos. Older kids and teens spend almost 4 hours a day watching TV or videos. When computer use and video games are included, time spent in front of a screen increases to over five and half hours a day. Kids who watch more than 4 hours a day are more likely to be overweight compared with kids who watch 2 hours or fewer. (Kids Health, 2008)
The figures are staggering. According to the CDC and the National Center for Health Statistics (1999) over nine million or fifteen percent of American children and adolescents between the ages of six and eighteen were overweight, or triple what the percentage was in 1990. The number is growing rapidly and experts say that figure is now at least twenty-five percent. Over ten percent of preschoolers between the ages of two and five are overweight, up from seven percent in 1994. The question would be why are so many kids overweight? Carbohydrates, sugars, everyone has their own theory about why children gain weight, but the reality is, the reason kids gain weight, is excess. You may blame it on everything and anything, but it is really a disease of excess. Excess calories and decrease physical activity. Calories may come from a number of places. Therefore, the cure is balance.
With adults, you may measure the BMI, but with kids, it is more complicated because they go through growth spurts. You may look at the sliding scales that measure height and weight and see where they fit with kids of the same age. Nevertheless, there are red flags—obsession with food: thinking of food all the time as an activity as opposed to a necessity. If all they want to do is, eat and go back to the kitchen again and again. Hoarding or hiding food: You find food in their room; they are embarrassed to let you know they are eating.
The important reason for changing eating habits is that it is a health issue and not about cosmetics.
Children are facing chronic health problems that should not occur for years or decades. Another matter is that even though children are overweight, and their caloric intake is excessive, they are not necessarily well nourished. They are often not getting enough calcium, vitamins, and fiber because many of them do not eat enough fruits and vegetables. Parents need to look at their own eating habits. You cannot expect your children to learn good eating habits if you do not have them yourself. Eating habits are learned. Now your children need to relearn good ones. This can not make parents popular, but it about health not popularity. Keep in mind, one out of every four children is overweight. This is an opportunity to make changes. You need to make changes slowly. Pick one habit you want to change every month, but take your time. Kids take a long time to make changes. Think about what you are going to change next month, for example, one night a week, do not have dessert, have fruit. Get your kids involved, you will win on several fronts here. It is time for parents and kids to catch up, gives the parents help after a busy day, and important, kids will eat more of what they prepared. Sadly, fewer and fewer families eat meals together. Nevertheless, kids love to eat with their parents, and parents should make time to eat with their children so they can work on
eating habits together. It is also a time for families to eat together without distraction. This means no television during mealtime.
Keep healthy food on hand in the house, stock the cupboards with good things to eat. If you know, your child likes tomatoes or oranges, make sure you have them around. Limit high calorie food, if they are not in the house, kids are more likely to turn to healthier snacks. You do not want a kitchen with chips, cookies, candy, and one rotten banana. Amazingly, forty percent of children do not eat breakfast regularly. The obvious reasons children should eat breakfast; it gets their metabolism going, and they are not starving and overeating later. Nevertheless, breakfast is a good opportunity for kids to get the foods they need: fruit, grains and protein. There is no excuse for children not eating breakfast. Parents have to make time. Eggs; keep a bowl of hardboiled eggs on hand. Cereal; whole grain, Cheerios, Raisin Bran, Oatmeal. Even fairly young kids can prepare their own bowl of cereal; fruits kids can grab as they go out the door, if needed.
Parents need to know there are consequences to their children's eating habits and physical activity. Children at the age of ten to fifteen years old without taking care of themselves are at risk for severe medical problems at the age of twenty to twenty-five years old. The societal repercussions are overwhelming. Our healthcare system will be overwhelmed. When a child comes in the doctor's office with sky high blood sugar, the decision to send them home than admit to the hospital is a difficult one. With an adult, you can tell them to change their diet, exercise, and check their levels in a week, hoping they go down. With children, it is risky because you do not know if they understand the seriousness. If the parents do not understand, you have no choice to admit them to the hospital and start them on insulin.
Kids do not want to deal with this, and because they do not deal with it, they end up in the hospital like people with Type 1 diabetes, it can go on and on without being treated. They do not understand how important the diet and exercise is, it is difficult for young children and teens to understand high blood sugar levels. But mostly, it is unrealistic to expect them to make the right decisions about what goes in their bodies when healthy choices are few and far between.
Diet and exercise, it seems so simple, but clearly the message is not getting out because there are so many obese children with diabetes. There is hope for the younger kids though; children in grammar school can still make the lifestyle changes needed if we start working on it now. Do not expect kids to make the right decisions about health if they do not have the education to do so, and they do not have healthy options to choose from. The first line of defense is for the kids to eat right and exercise. The ultimate responsibility lies with the parent, but there are changes that need to be made in the schools. Cafeterias, it is difficult for a child to turn down the hamburger and fries and greasy pizza if the other alternative is wilted salad. After grammar school, is middle school that contains vending machines with unhealthy choices? They should not be allowed in schools. Kids should have a choice between an apple, a pear, and a banana as a snack. Not between a hostess donut, chips and sodas. Some say it is the money for our schools; are we selling out our kid's health? Schools continue to get money from the soda companies when they allow them at the schools. Schools need to come up with more creative ways to raise funds, not at the expense of today's children.
Gym requirements in schools have dropped drastically. Up until fifth grade, fifty percent of schools had a PE requirement. By twelfth grade, that drops to only two percent.