Risk of type 2 diabetes for UK South Asian children
Thursday April 22nd, 2010
Signs of type 2 diabetes are being seen in apparently healthy British Asian children, researchers warned yesterday.
Experts from the British Heart Foundation and the Wellcome Trust worked together on a study to examine child health in England.
They say that type 2 diabetes usually develops around age 40 or older, but there are now worrying warning signs in ten-year old children. The team measured the health of 4,796 nine and ten year old children in London, Birmingham and Leicester.
Those
from South Asian families had higher levels of blood markers for type
2 diabetes. Black African-Caribbean children also tended to have a slightly
greater risk than white children.
Environmental and lifestyle difference may be the cause, in addition to genes. Type 2 diabetes is also more common in South Asian adults in the UK.
Researcher Professor Peter Whincup says: "These findings are particularly important in light of the growing problem that type 2 diabetes represents worldwide. They suggest that at least some of the causes of ethnic differences in the prevalence of diabetes are working before adult life.
"We know that being physically active, eating healthily and avoiding being overweight help all children to lower their long-term risks of type 2 diabetes. But we need to do more research to find out which particular factors make Asian and African-Caribbean people more likely to develop diabetes, so that we can establish the most effective measures for preventing the disease from an early stage in life."
Commenting on the work, Dr Mike Knapton of the British Heart Foundation said: "This shows how important it is that we take a life course approach to tackling health inequalities. We need to intervene early to divert these children off the road to ill health."
Tags: Child Health | Diabetes | UK News
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