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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as many as 45 percent of new diabetes cases in children ages 0 to 19 may be type 2. Researchers are unsure of the extent of the disease, however, because until recently, adequate reporting of type 2 diabetes in children didn't exist, as it was widely assumed to be an adults-only disease. That assumption, however, is quickly changing.

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease that develops when the pancreas cannot produce enough insulin to regulate sugar in the blood. Obesity is a key indicator for the development of diabetes, and in the United States, obesity is rising at an alarming rate. In March 2004, the CDC predicted that obesity would overtake tobacco as the leading cause of preventable death by 2005. Currently, about 400,000 deaths each year are associated with obesity, and 85 percent of children with type 2 diabetes are obese.

Not only do children with diabetes have to contend with high sugar and low insulin levels, but they also face an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke, eye damage and blindness, circulatory problems and nervous system problems for the rest of their lives. And these are serious complications that can be prevented.

Weight loss is vital to the prevention and management of diabetes. As abdominal fat increases, it stifles the pancreas ability to produce insulin. Even minor weight loss, between eight and 15 pounds, can reduce the risk of developing diabetes by 33 percent. Other risk factors are inactivity, which leads to weight gain, and family history. At least 75 percent of children diagnosed with type 2 diabetes also have a parent or sibling with the disease.

For more information about the Healthy Family Adolescent Weight Management Program, please contact the Sara Lee Center for Women's Health at (336) 718-3780 or call toll free (888) 218-1234.