2002 to 2015 saw increase in incidence of diabetes in youth

From 2002 to 2015, there was a constant increase in the incidence of type 1 and type 2 diabetes among youth, according to research published in the Feb. 14 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Jasmin Divers, Ph.D., from the New York University Long Island School of Medicine in Mineola, and colleagues examined trends in incidence of type 1 and type 2 diabetes among youth from 2002 to 2015 using data from the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study population-based registry study.

The researchers found that throughout 2002 to 2015, the incidence of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes continued to increase at constant rates. The incidence of type 1 diabetes among all youths increased from 19.5 per 100,000 in 2002 to 2003 to 22.3 per 100,000 in 2014 to 2015 (annual percent change [APC], 1.9 percent). The incidence of type 2 diabetes increased among persons aged 10 to 19 years, from 9.0 per 100,000 in 2002 to 2003 to 13.8 per 100,000 in 2014 to 2015 (APC, 4.8 percent). The rates of increase were generally higher among racial/ethnic-minority populations than among whites for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

"Of great concern was the rapid progression of diabetes among Asian/Pacific Islanders, with those study findings being novel to any prior research, and the results warranting additional close scrutiny and study," Divers said in a statement.