Kids don’t get a free pass in their early years to eat whatever they want.
When I was in medical school Type 2 Diabetes, which is VERY different than Type 1 diabetes, wasn’t even present or taught.
Type 2 Diabetes is a lifestyle disease. Simply put, our kids are
- eating way too much junk
- not exercising enough
- spend too much time being sedentary
The incidence of Type 2 Diabetes is rising sharply. You do NOT have to have an obese or overweight child to have a child at risk for pre-diabetes or florid Type 2 Diabetes. Normal weight “obesity” is possible.
You cannot outrun a bad diet.
This paper in the New England Journal of Medicine was just published. It shows that by the time these children hit their 20’s they already have elevated lipids- triglycerides, LDL, etc. They already have hypertension and an elevated Hemoglobin A1c.
As I have mentioned very often, the risk of developing heart disease is an AUC- or area under the curve issue. That means that their risk of developing atherosclerosis is related to the number of years that their artery walls are subjected to the effects of elevated lipids, inflammation, etc. If these numbers are elevated at a very young age, these children will not live as long as generations that came before them.
I wrote this to try and simplify the issue with elevated lipid exposure.
I will need to update that article because the issue of elevated triglycerides has become a strong predictor of very poor metabolic health and atherosclerotic heart disease.
I also wrote this about insulin resistance, which is the hallmark finding in people with Type 2 Diabetes. This pertains to children these days too.
Here is the article from the NEJM: Long-Term Complications in Youth-Onset Type 2 Diabetes
