By Merritt McKinney
NEW YORK, Oct 21 (Reuters Health) -- The families of young Americans with type 2 diabetes are likely to eat unhealthy diets, to be inactive and to be overweight -- all risk factors for the disease, report researchers.
In addition to raising the risk for developing diabetes, living in a family with an unhealthy lifestyle may make it harder for children and teens to keep their diabetes under control, one of the study's authors noted in an interview with Reuters Health.
Unlike people who have type 1 diabetes, which occurs when the body does not produce the sugar-regulating hormone insulin, those with type 2 diabetes produce insulin but the body has developed a resistance to its effects. While certain people are more likely than others to develop type 2 diabetes, the condition is generally related to being inactive and overweight, according to Dr. Philip Scott Zeitler of The Children's Hospital in Denver, Colorado.
Until recently, type 2 diabetes was thought to be a disease of adulthood, but the rate of the condition in children and adolescents has skyrocketed, Zeitler explained. "This is becoming a real public health problem," he told Reuters Health.
To better understand diabetes in adolescence, Zeitler and his colleagues studied 11 families who had an adolescent with type 2 diabetes. The researchers measured the body fat of the children and their parents and siblings. In addition, the families answered questions about their diet and underwent blood tests.
Overall, adolescents with diabetes and their families tended to be obese and to eat a diet high in fat but low in fiber, the investigators report. None of the families had a regular exercise routine, and two families did not participate in any physical activity.
Out of the 11 families, five of the mothers and seven of the fathers also had type 2 diabetes, according to the results.
"You find multiple family members with lifestyles that aren't necessarily healthy," Zeitler said in the interview.
While losing weight by exercising more and eating a healthier diet can prevent the need for diabetes medication, helping a child to reach this goal is difficult if the rest of family has an unhealthy lifestyle, according to Zeitler.
"The whole family needs to get its act together," Zeitler said. "The kid can't fix himself if the rest of the family isn't participating."
