Current Prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes Amongst Children

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In the United States and in many other countries around the world, more children are being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. In the past, children who were diagnosed with diabetes were diagnosed with type 1. Type 1 diabetes affects many children in which they are unable to produce insulin. However as times have changed, children are now being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes which is a chronic illness that usually affects adults. Type 2 diabetes develops when the person is not able to produce enough insulin, and if insulin is being produce it is not effective. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 90% to 95% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes are type 2 (2012). About 215,000 children in the United States are already diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and about two million children between the ages of 12 and 19 are pre-diabetic (Scott, 2013). Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to identify the current prevalence of type 2 diabetes amongst children.

Diabetes is a disease that affects the blood glucose level in which causes them to be above normal. There are three types of diabetes type 1, type 2, and gestational. As previously mentioned type 1 diabetes people are unable to produce insulin, type 2 diabetes does not produce enough insulin, and gestational only occurs in pregnant women. Nonetheless, there is another condition classified as pre-diabetes. A person who is diagnosed as prediabetic means they are at much higher risk of being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or stroke. People with diabetes may experience frequent urination, excessive thirst, fatigue, and sudden vision change as symptoms. In addition, different risk factors can possibly lead people to be more at risk fo...

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