Increase in diabetes expected among young people

The impact of Type 2 diabetes in young people could increase by almost 700% by 2060 if recent disease trends continue, new study finds published this month in Diabetic treatments.

As many as 526,000 people under the age of 20 in the United States are expected to have diabetes by 2060, according to researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Their projections revealed that the number of young people with diabetes will increase by 12%, from 213,000 in 2017 to 239,000 in 2060.

Estimates include a 673% increase in the number of young people with type 2 diabetes and a 65% increase in cases of type 1 diabetes over the next four decades.

Most new cases are expected to occur among non-Hispanic blacks, exacerbating the already large racial problem disparities in type 2 diabetes in particularthe study found.

“This study’s startling projections of the rise in type 2 diabetes show why it’s crucial to advance health equity and reduce the widespread disparities that already weigh on people’s health,” said Christopher. Holliday, PhD, MPH, FACHE, director of the CDC Diabetes Translation Division. , said in a press release about the new estimates.

Even if the trends remain the same in the coming decades, the researchers said that type 2 diabetes diagnoses will increase by almost 70% and type 1 diabetes diagnoses will increase by 3%.

Researchers attribute the rise in cases of diabetes among young people to a variety of factors, including the rising prevalence of childhood obesity and the presence of diabetes in women of childbearing age, which is linked to obesity in their offspring.

Debra Houry, MD, MPH, acting senior director of the CDC, said the focus should be on prevention.

“This new research should serve as a wake-up call for all of us. It is vital that we focus our efforts to ensure that all Americans, especially our young people, are as healthy as possible,” she said in a statement. Press release.

The findings come from the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth study, funded by the CDC and the National Institutes of Health. Houry and Holliday report no relevant financial relationship.

Diabetic treatments. Published online December 29, 2022. Abstract

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