In addition to the alarming prevalence of type 2 diabetes among teenagers, impaired fasting glucose levels in this many young people suggests an even larger number arriving at the threshold of diabetes, according to a study in the May issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and
In addition to the alarming prevalence of type 2 diabetes among teenagers, impaired fasting glucose levels in this many young people suggests an even larger number arriving at the threshold of diabetes, according to a study in the May issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
It should be noted, however, that these estimates from National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) for 1999-2002 were derived from a weighted statistical analysis of a total of 18 patients and that some of the 95% confidence intervals were broad.
In a sample of 4,370 adolescents, ages 12 to 19, (equal to a weighted sample of 26,649,401 subjects), 18 individuals reported having diabetes.
Analysis with population-based sample weights found this number (18) equivalent to 134,071 adolescents or 0.5% of all young people in this age group (95% confidence interval, 0.24%-0.76%) having diabetes, said Glen Duncan, Ph.D., of the University of Washington here.
In this self-reported group of 18 diabetic teenagers, 10 individuals were categorized as having type 1 diabetes (used insulin) and eight as having type 2 diabetes (no insulin). Population-based sample weights found these proportions equivalent to 39,005 adolescents with type 2 diabetes. This estimate is consistent with estimat