With the number of children suffering from type 2 diabetes growing at an alarming rate, physicians gathered Saturday to discuss strategies for prevention and treatment of the disease among children and adolescents at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) 18th Annual Meeting & Clinical Congress.
"Type 2 diabetes is extremely complex," said A. Jay Cohen, MD, FACE, session moderator and pediatric endocrinologist. "The rapid rise in obesity, physical inactivity and the consumption of excessive calories seems to have led to the epidemic of children with type 2 diabetes."
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is conducting two clinical trials in order to identify the children at risk for type 2 diabetes and to demonstrate the effectiveness of lifestyle intervention among youth. The first trial, HEALTHY, is following a group of about 6,400 children through middle school, from sixth to eighth grade, to determine if modifications in exercise programs and nutrition in the school environment can reduce the risk of children having the disease. Researchers are tracking the youth's body mass indices (BMIs), fasting glucose levels and fasting insulin levels to show the health benefits of lifestyle adjustments. TODAY, the second trial, is exploring the best treatment options for children with type 2 diabetes.
"It is imperative to expose the social, behavioral and environmental factors which have led to this epidemic," said Francine R. Kaufman, MD, pediatric endocrinologist and Study Chair of both trials.