The obesity epidemic has touched the lives of millions of adults
in the United States and around the world. Children, however,
have not been immune to it. Just like for adults, obesity puts
children at a risk for conditions such as Type 2 Diabetes. This,
and the steady rise in diabetes cases, has prompted the American
Academy of Pediatrics to issue the first-ever set of diabetes
guidelines for children. “We’re seeing it much more [childhood
diabetes] than we did before,” Dr. Janet Silverstein, co-author
of the new American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines on diabetes
and professor of pediatrics at the University of Florida, told
TIME. “Many pediatricians were never trained in managing Type 2
because it just wasn’t a disease we used to see. It was a
disease of adulthood. But as we’re seeing more obesity in kids,
we’re seeing adult diseases in childhood.” The new diabetes
guidelines, published in the February issue of Pediatrics,
address children between the ages of 10 and 18, and place an
emphasis on increasin