Preventing Type 2 Diabetes in Kids: Risks and Family Habits That Help

Type 2 diabetes isn't only an adult disease: children and teenagers get it too, and it is increasing among young people in the United States. Families can act now to help prevent or delay it.

Risk factors

• Weight. About one-third of American young people have overweight. That doesn't automatically make them unhealthy, but it raises the risk of conditions such as insulin resistance, when the body can't use insulin, the hormone that balances blood sugar, properly: a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes. High blood pressure and high cholesterol, linked to overweight, add to that risk. Because children are still growing, the aim for a child with overweight is to slow weight gain while allowing growth; ask your doctor for advice on diet.
• Inactivity. Physical activity helps the body use insulin and lowers the risk of overweight, yet most children and teens don't get the recommended daily amount.
• Age. Children who develop type 2 diabetes are usually diagnosed in their early teens, partly because puberty hormones make insulin harder to use, especially for girls, who are more likely than boys to develop it.
• Other factors: a family member with type 2 diabetes; a mother who had diabetes in pregnancy (gestational diabetes); being Hispanic or Latino, Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian American or Pacific Islander; overweight, obesity, high blood pressure or high cholesterol.

If your child has any two of these risk factors, ask your doctor about a blood sugar test. Testing usually starts at age 10 or at the start of puberty, whichever comes first, and is repeated every 3 years.

Act as a family

Healthy changes stick more easily when everyone makes them together, and starting young can build habits for life.

At mealtimes:

• drink more water and fewer sugary drinks;
• eat more fruit and vegetables;
• make favourite dishes healthier with whole grains, lean meat and more vegetables;
• let children help make healthier meals, and teach them to read food labels;
• eat together at the table, as often as you can, rather than in front of a screen;
• don't insist on clean plates, and reward with praise, not food.

On the move:

• aim for 60 minutes of physical activity a day, which needn't be all at once;
• make it fun, try new things and ask children what they enjoy most;
• limit screen time where you can;
• plan active outings such as walks, hikes or bike rides;
• turn chores into games, with healthy prizes.

Sources

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Preventing Type 2 Diabetes in Kids." https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/prevention-type-2/type-2-diabetes-in-kids.html
• Corrected: a missing comma in the list of groups at higher risk ("Black Native American/Alaska Native").
• The original's stock photograph is not reproduced here.