Targeted public health efforts are needed to address obesity and prevent diabetes among Asian and Pacific Island children in the United States, according to the latest results from SEARCH, the largest-ever national surveillance of youth with diabetes.
The findings come from ongoing diabetes-monitoring efforts at multiple locations, including Hawai‘i.
They show rates of Type 1 diabetes in Asian and Pacific Islanders under age 14 in the United States are at least 3 times higher than the rates in Asian populations, including Japan, Korea, Shanghai, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore.
Approximately 1 in 8,200 Asian and Pacific Islander youth between the ages of 10 and 19 is diagnosed with type 2 diabetes each year.
“The risk of obesity and Type 2 diabetes in Asian and Pacific Islander adolescents is high compared to Caucasian populations and most ethnic minorities,” said Beatriz L. Rodriguez MD, PhD, Professor of the University of Hawai‘i’s John A. Burns School of Medicine and Principal Investigator of the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth site in Hawai‘i. “The rates of Type 2 diabetes are also substantially higher when compared to reports from Japan and Taiwan.”
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder involving the pancreas, which requires patients to receive insulin from injections or a pump to survive. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body develops resistance to insulin. Obesity and inactivity are linked to Type 2.
Diabetes in childhood increases the risk of complications from the disease, including blindness, kidney failure and heart disease. “Continuing this surveillance effort is essential to document the future burden of diabetes and its complications on our youth, their families, and the health care system,” said Dr. Rodriguez.
Officials at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, a part of the National Institutes of Health, said the latest SEARCH data fill an important gap in the knowledge about childhood diabetes and will help guide future research and efforts to improve the prevention and treatment of the disease.
Other findings from the new reports:
• The incidence rate of Type 1 diabetes among U.S. non-Hispanic white youth is today one of the highest in the world: 1 in about 4,200 youth develops Type 1 diabetes annually. This rate is higher than all previously reported U.S. studies and many European studies. Type 2 diabetes is relatively rare in non-Hispanic white youth, but incidence rates are still several-fold higher than those reported by European countries.
• Type 1 diabetes is more common than Type 2 diabetes in Hispanic American youth of all ages.
• In addition to documenting appropriate concerns about Type 2 diabetes in African-American youth, the reports found Type 1 diabetes is also more common than expected.
• Of all racial and ethnic groups in SEARCH, Navajo youth have the greatest risk of Type 2 diabetes: 1 in 2,542 develop diabetes annually.
The study was funded by the Division of Diabetes Translation at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, a part of the National Institutes of Health. It involves six clinical centers in the states of California, Colorado, Hawai‘i , Ohio , South Carolina and Washington.
SEARCH Local Site Contact:
Beatriz L. Rodriguez, MD, PhD
808-692-1468 (office)
