Dehradun: Diabetes is on the rise among young children. While this disease was earlier seen in older people, now even young children are falling prey to diabetes. There are many reasons behind this. The most common reasons are irregular lifestyle and poor eating habits. Children tend to consume more junk food, sweets and cold drinks, which can lead to imbalance in blood sugar levels. In addition, lack of physical activity and obesity are also major causes.
Nowadays, children spend more time looking at mobile phones and watching television, which leads to lower energy consumption and increased body fat. This obesity can eventually lead to type 2 diabetes. Also, children who have a family history of diabetes are more likely to develop the disease. In some cases, viral infections or immune system disorders can also cause type 1 diabetes in children. If young children have problems like loss of appetite, frequent thirst and frequent urination, they may be suffering from diabetes.
Does your child go to the bathroom often?
Dr. Head of Department of Pediatrics, Doon Medical College Hospital, Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Ashok Kumar said that earlier, diabetes was seen only in adults. But now cases are increasing rapidly even among young children. If a child urinates seven to eight times an hour, or feels frequent thirst or extreme hunger, these could be early signs of diabetes, he said. In addition, the child may experience sudden weight gain or loss, blurred vision, and slow healing of injuries.
Causes of diabetes in children
Dr. According to Ashok, sometimes the disease progresses slowly and without any symptoms, and by the time parents are aware, enough damage has already been done. He said that diabetes in children is often due to genetic reasons, but other than that, wrong eating habits, stressful lifestyle, lack of physical activity and high consumption of junk food are also the main causes. Nowadays, children spend more time on mobile phones than playing outdoor sports, due to which their physical activity decreases. Be it village or city, the trend of fast food and packaged food has increased everywhere, which leads to diseases like diabetes in children.
Risk of diabetes in children
Type 1 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes in children. It is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the cells of the pancreas that produce insulin. As a result, the production of insulin in the body is greatly reduced or completely stopped. On the other hand, type-2 diabetes, which was earlier seen only in adults, is now being seen in teenagers and young children due to changing lifestyles, obesity and lack of physical activity.
Symptoms of type 2 diabetes
In type 2 diabetes, the body produces insulin, but either there is not enough of it or the body’s cells do not respond properly to the insulin. This leads to imbalance in blood sugar levels. Therefore, if children show symptoms of diabetes such as frequent urination, excessive thirst, weight loss or fatigue, it is important to consult a doctor immediately so that timely treatment can be given to protect the child from serious health risks.