Nadia Ramlaghan
Public News Service
Experts say sedentary lifestyles, food insecurity and other factors are driving the rise in childhood diabetes in Kentucky.
Research has shown that the number of young people with type 2 diabetes nationwide increased by 77% during the first year of the pandemic (Barnstable Brown Diabetes Center).
She said diagnoses of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are on the rise among children.
She said the younger a person is at diagnosis, the higher their chances of developing comorbidities such as hypertension, kidney disease and neuropathy in future.
“Some of the symptoms can be very vague and hard to pinpoint,” Scott says, “but if you see your child drinking a lot more fluids than usual, losing weight unexpectedly, or going to the bathroom a lot more, it’s definitely a good idea to get them checked out.”
According to the American Diabetes Association, an estimated 352,000 Americans under the age of 20 have been diagnosed with diabetes.
Diabetes was the eighth leading cause of death in the United States in 2021, with direct medical costs exceeding $300 billion in 2022 alone.
Ben Chandler is CEO of the Kentucky Health Foundation, whose new campaign aims to raise prevention awareness in the community and help families recognize signs of illness in their children.
A more active lifestyle and maintaining a healthy weight can go a long way in reducing the risk, he said.
“We don’t have adequate testing for young people,” Chandler said. “We could do more community events that include free testing. We can do that, schools can do that.”
Scott added that school nurses can play a key role in detecting diabetes early in children and improving their overall health.
“There are guidelines for screening children for risk of type 2 diabetes,” Scott says, “and that starts at adolescence or age 10. If a child is overweight or obese, you start monitoring some of those risks.”
Living with diabetes can be stressful and isolating for children.
Scott said Camp Hendon, a Louisville-based diabetes summer camp, offers kids who need to regularly test their blood sugar and take insulin a supportive, educational environment as well as a regular summer camp experience.
