Rise in childhood diabetes sounds warning bells

Madurai: A seven-year-old boy from Dindigul district, who has been falling sick often, was referred to Govt Rajaji Hospital (GRH) for treatment. His parents were shocked when he was diagnosed with diabetes recently. This could not be an isolated incident as doctors at GRH, a major referral hospital, are seeing a rise in childhood diabetes cases. According to hospital data, around 48,000 patient visits for type 2 diabetes were recorded last year, while nearly 400 new cases of type 1 diabetes were registered among children and adolescents up to 19 years of age."Five years ago, we used to identify around 60 new childhood diabetes cases annually. Now, the number has crossed 100," says Dr E Subbiah, head of the department of diabetology. GRH receives referrals from district hospitals across southern Tamil Nadu, and doctors are increasingly seeing cases from smaller towns and semi-rural areas. "Earlier, we rarely saw such cases from places like Srivilliputhur. Now, more children are being referred from these regions where childhood diabetes is being identified," he added. Dr C R Mahesh Babu, HOD of diabetology at Meenakshi speciality hospital, says the rising trend is seen in private hospitals too. He said type 2 diabetes is more common and is called a garden variety of diabetes, whereas type 1 diabetes is usually found only among children and very rarely among those above the age of 20. "A few weeks after getting type 1 diabetes, children undergo immunosuppression where the immunity weakens, and they may catch viral fever. This is why we diagnose more cases after such fever cases among children," he said. For type 2, if the parents are diabetic, the child is 90% prone, he said. Type 2 diabetes, once considered an adult disease, is now being increasingly diagnosed among teenagers. "Type 2 diabetes is a silent disease. We detect at least 10 new cases among children every month," said Subbiah, calling it a spillover of adult diabetes patterns into younger age groups. Dr Nandhini K, head of the department of paediatrics at GRH, said childhood diabetes can have lifelong consequences if not managed properly. Children born to women who were diabetic during pregnancy are at a higher risk of developing diabetes at a younger age. Doctors at GRH said they focus strongly on counselling and emotional support for families. "At times, we introduce newly diagnosed families to parents whose children are on treatment for years. When they see that the child is doing well, it gives them hope," Subbiah said. The department of diabetology conducted a detailed study on childhood obesity and diabetes, which was published in an international medical journal. It surveyed 3,195 urban and rural schoolchildren aged 10 to 18 years from four schools in Madurai region. The findings revealed that 8.8% of urban students and 7.6% of rural students were obese. Doctors said the study found no diabetes among children with a healthy body weight. "However, 18% of obese students had high blood sugar levels (Impaired Glucose Tolerance)," they said. Doctors attributed these conditions to lifestyle-related factors such as high-calorie snacking, lack of outdoor play and walking, excessive television and mobile phone use, high birth weight, and a family history of diabetes.