Contents:
- Medical Video: Understanding Type 2 Diabetes
- Why can children have type 2 diabetes?
- Symptoms of type 2 diabetes in children
- Easily tired
- Excessive thirst
- Frequent urination
- Often feeling hungry
- Wounds that are hard to heal
- The skin becomes darker
- How to diagnose type 2 diabetes in children?
- Risk factors for type 2 diabetes in children
Medical Video: Understanding Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is considered an adult-specific disease. In fact, this disease is more often experienced by adults than children. However, nowadays type 2 diabetes in children is increasingly common.
Type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition that interferes with glucose (sugar) metabolism in the body. Based on data from the Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI), the increase in the incidence of type 2 diabetes in children occurs along with the increasing cases of obesity and lack of physical activity in children.
Why can children have type 2 diabetes?
The main cause of type 2 diabetes in children is overweight or obese. The relationship between obesity and type 2 diabetes is even stronger in young people than in adults.
Children who are overweight are likely to experience an increase insulin resistance. Then the body will struggle to regulate insulin, while high blood sugar can cause a number of serious health problems.
According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the past 30 years obesity in children has doubled and obesity in adolescents has quadrupled.
Genetic factors can also play a role in increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes in children. If one parent or both parents have diabetes, your child has the potential to have type 2 diabetes too.
Symptoms of type 2 diabetes in children
Symptoms of type 2 diabetes are not always easily recognized. In most cases, the disease develops gradually, which causes symptoms to be difficult to detect. About 40 percent of children who have type 2 diabetes show no signs or symptoms. However, some symptoms can be identified, namely:
Easily tired
If your child is often weak, tired, or sleepy without heavy physical activity, it can be a symptom of diabetes. Because, type 2 diabetes in children makes the body unable to process sugar into an energy source, only stored in the blood. As a result, children do not have enough energy to move.
Excessive thirst
Easily thirsty even though drinking enough water might just show symptoms of type 2 diabetes in children.
Frequent urination
Excessive sugar levels in the bloodstream can absorb fluids from body tissues. This makes your child urinate more often. Plus, children become thirsty and drink more.
Often feeling hungry
Children with diabetes do not have enough insulin to fuel their cells. So as to make children feel hungry more often.
Wounds that are hard to heal
Long or difficult healing of wounds in children is one sign that your child has type 2 diabetes.
The skin becomes darker
If your child has type 2 diabetes, you might see some areas of your child's skin darken, this is also called acanthosis nigricans. Insulin resistance can cause the skin to darken, like the armpits and neck.
How to diagnose type 2 diabetes in children?
Type 2 diabetes in children requires testing by a pediatrician to be recognized correctly. If your pediatrician suspects type 2 diabetes, your doctor will do a blood glucose test, glucose tolerance test, or A1C test.
Sometimes, it takes several months to get a positive diagnosis for type 2 diabetes for children. You are also encouraged to ask another doctor's opinion (second opinion) to confirm the diagnosis.
Risk factors for type 2 diabetes in children
The risk of type 2 diabetes in children will increase if:
- A sibling or other close relative also has type 2 diabetes.
- Showing signs of insulin resistance, including dark patches on the skin.
- Your child is not active. The more inactive your child is, the greater the risk of type 2 diabetes. Physical activity helps children control their weight, uses glucose as energy, and makes your child's cells more responsive to insulin.
