About 7% of U.S. Teens Have Prediabetic Condition, Study Finds
About two million U.S. residents ages 12 to 19 have impaired fasting glucose, or high blood sugar levels after several hours without food, according to a study published on Monday in Pediatrics, the AP/Boston Globe reports. IFG is a prediabetic condition linked with obesity and inactivity that increases risk for diabetes and heart disease.
According to American Diabetes Association criteria, individuals with IFG have blood sugar levels of at least 100 milligrams per deciliter; those with diabetes have blood sugar levels of at least 125 milligrams per deciliter.
The study, conducted by CDC and NIH researchers, involved 915 teenagers who participated in a 1999-2000 national health survey. The study found that participants had an average blood sugar level of 89.7 -- within the normal range -- and that 7%, or one in 14, had IFG.
In addition, the study found that one in six overweight participants had IFG. According to the study, participants with IFG were more likely than those with normal blood glucose levels to have high levels of bad cholesterol and triglycerides.
Venkat Narayan, a CDC diabetes researcher and a co-author of the study, said, "The numbers are definitely concerning."
David Ludwig, director of the Children's Hospital Boston obesity program, said that IFG "has no symptoms but ... signifies an advanced metabolic problem, which will in most cases progress" to type 2 diabetes.
"Intensive lifestyle interventions," such as increased physical activity and improved diet, could help address the issue, the researchers said (Tanner, AP/Boston Globe, 11/7).
An abstract of the study is available online.
Girls with larger-than-average waistlines at ages 10 and 11 are 16% more likely to face risk for diabetes or heart problems at ages 18 and 19, according to a second study published on Monday in Pediatrics, Cox/Contra Costa Times reports.
For the study, University of Cincinnati and NIH researchers tracked the health of more than 1,000 black and white girls in Cincinnati and Washington, D.C., ages 10 to 11, until they reached ages 18 to 19. Participants with larger-than-average waistlines at the start of the study who lost weight by the time the study ended did not have an increased likelihood of risk for diabetes or heart problems, researchers found.
Eva Obarzanek, research nutritionist from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, said, "This study shows that the time to keep a woman from having diabetes or heart trouble is during childhood" (Nesmith, Cox/Contra Costa Times, 11/7).
An abstract of the study is available online.