Teen diabetes rates are on the rise, and that means so does the risk of heart disease and other complications facing them as adults. According to a new analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of 2008, 23% of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 19 had diabetes or prediabetes, up from just 9% in 1999.
And you can’t necessarily blame obesity – a leading cause of type 2 diabetes – for the dramatic increase. Obesity rates have remained relatively flat over the same time period; thirty-four percent of adolescents were overweight or obese in 2008, compared to 33% in 1999. Rates of other risk factors for heart disease, such a high cholesterol and high blood pressure also remained high but unchanged from the previous decade.
The researchers found a clear relationship between the adolescents’ body mass index (BMI) and their likelihood of having risk factors for cardiovascular disease…not exactly surprising. 49% and 61% of overweight and obese adolescents had at least one risk factor, compared to just 37% of normal-weight kids. The study also found that boys were more likely than girls to have risk factors, as were older adolescents versus younger ones.
There is some evidence that diabetes, high blood pressure, and unhealthy cholesterol levels can cause lasting damage in this age group, according to Health.
“Pediatricians and other healthcare providers who work with adolescents need to be aware of, and follow through with, screening guidelines and recommendations for obesity and also other cardiovascular risk factors, and suggest appropriate behavioral interventions,” says lead researcher Ashleigh May, Ph.D., an epidemiologist with the CDC’s division of nutrition, physical activity, and obesity.
Researchers say the spike should be “interpreted with caution,” as they used a one-time blood test which can provide a less than accurate picture of average blood-sugar levels, but should not be ignored.
photo credit Reed Saxon / AP
