A decade-long surge in type 2 diabetes cases among Colorado’s youth highlights a broader US trend, with experts warning of escalating health risks for children and teenagers.
Researchers are warning that type 2 diabetes, long viewed as a condition of adulthood, is appearing far more often in children and teenagers. A study to be presented next month at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes meeting in Italy found that cases among young people in Colorado rose almost tenfold between 2002 and 2023, a pattern the researchers say may reflect a wider trend across the US.
The analysis drew on diabetes records for people under 20 in Colorado, using diagnosis data, laboratory results and medication information collected since 2002. It found 8,094 cases of type 1 diabetes among children and teenagers over the study period, alongside 1,560 cases of type 2 diabetes in 10- to 19-year-olds. While type 1 diabetes rose only modestly, from 25.07 to 27.39 cases per 100,000 youths, type 2 diabetes climbed from 2.37 to 22.30 cases per 100,000 in the same age group.
Tessa Crume of the Colorado School of Public Health said the shift marks a dramatic change from a generation ago, when paediatric clinicians might rarely encounter type 2 diabetes. Speaking on the findings, Crume said the increase in Colorado is accelerating rather than easing, and warned that youth-onset type 2 diabetes tends to progress more quickly than the adult form. She said pancreatic insulin-producing cells can decline faster in younger patients, making blood sugar harder to control and allowing complications involving the kidneys, eyes, nerves and heart to emerge within years.
The wider concern is reinforced by federal data. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says new cases of diabetes among young people are rising nationally, and reported that the incidence of type 2 diabetes in people under 20 doubled between 2002 and 2018, from 9 to 18 cases per 100,000 a year. The CDC has also estimated that type 2 diabetes among children under 18 could rise sharply through 2060, underlining the public health challenge now facing clinicians and families.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
