Health professionals at King George’s Medical University (KGMU) have noted a growing susceptibility of children to type 2 diabetes.
Kauser Usman, senior faculty member, department of medicine, KGMU, said, “The youngest child I have diagnosed and treated for diabetes was a Class 7 student, who had no family history of diabetes. There has been a rise in the number of children coming to OPD being diagnosed for diabetes, without any family history.
Changing Habits Over Genetics: A Crucial Factor in Childhood Type 2 Diabetes
“Doctors said changing habits/lifestyle is to be blamed more than genetics.”Children are now having mainly food outside the house and even avoid bringing tiffin to school. Busy parents also give money rather than tiffin. Besides, they are under tremendous pressure to perform. The aim is to decide on a profession such as medicine or engineering right from Class 4 or 5. During our time, all this pressure came only after Class 10,” said NS Verma, HoD, physiology, KGMU.
Doctors said that children getting diabetes is a major drawback for society.”First, if there were no other diabetes patients, the family history for diabetes starts, secondly and most importantly, the productive age between 17 years and 40 years remains compromised due to the disease,” said Usman.
“They can still stop diabetes from troubling them, but this needs a change in their lifestyle and food habits,” said Prof Verma. He suggested exercising daily for at least 40 minutes, maintaining a diet chart and eating what suits your body best.
Source: IANS
