Adult Type 2 Diabetes Can Be Predicted in Childhood

Adult Type 2 Diabetes Can Be Predicted in Childhood
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 14 (HealthDay News) -- The development of type 2diabetes in adults can be predicted in childhood, according to a U.S.study that's followed a group of 814 children and adults since 1973.
Researchers at the Cincinnati Children'sHospital Medical Center foundthat parental history of diabetes, as well as the presence of metabolicsyndrome in childhood were major predictors of type 2 diabetes inadulthood. The finding was particularly true for black American men andwomen, the researchers report.
People with metabolic syndrome have at least three of the followinghealth issues: high blood pressure; high triglycerides; high body mass;high blood glucose; and low levels of "good" high density lipoprotein(HDL) cholesterol.
"Pediatricians and family physicians should evaluate children andadolescents for metabolic syndrome and whether there is a family historyof diabetes," study lead author John Morrison said in a preparedstatement. "We need to identify in childhood those who are at risk ofadult metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes to prevent theseoutcomes."
He also noted that adult body mass index (BMI) was strongly associatedwith BMI in childhood and adolescence -- 63 percent of study participantsat risk of being overweight in the 1970s were obese 25 to 30 yearslater.
"A positive parental history of diabetes was also strongly associatedwith overweight status in both childhood and adulthood," Morrisonsaid.
The study was published in the online edition of The Journal ofPediatrics and was expected to published in a future print issue ofthe journal.
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and KidneyDiseases has more about diabetes prevention.