The incidence of type 2 diabetes in children appears to have doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic, data from two new US studies suggest, with the lead

'Staggering' Doubling of Type 2 Diabetes in Kids During Pandemic

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2021-07-05 13:00:05

The incidence of type 2 diabetes in children appears to have doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic, data from two new US studies suggest, with the lead investigator of one saying she was "surprised by the staggering increase in cases of type 2 diabetes...and the increase in severity of presentation."

Findings from the two separate retrospective chart reviews — one conducted in Washington, DC, and the other in Baton Rouge, Louisiana — were presented June 25 at the virtual American Diabetes Association (ADA) 81st Scientific Sessions.

Although the two studies differed somewhat in the clinical parameters examined, both revealed a similar doubling of the rates of hospitalizations for type 2 diabetes among youth during 2020 compared with the same time period in 2019, as well as greater severity of metabolic disturbance.

"Although we could not assess the cause of the increases in type 2 diabetes from our data, these disparities suggest that indirect effects of social distancing measures, including school closure and unemployment, are placing undue burden on underserved communities. Decreases in well-child care and fears of seeking medical care during the pandemic may have also contributed," the lead investigator of one of the studies, pediatric endocrinologist Brynn E. Marks, MD, Children's National Hospital, Washington, DC, told Medscape Medical News.