Teens Need Healthy Habits to Head Off Diabetes June 8, 2006—Not
only are more teenagers overweight than ever before, but there
is evidence that more of them have diabetes, too. About 18
million people in the United States have diabetes, a chronic
disease marked by high blood sugar (glucose) levels. People with
type 1 diabetes don’t produce enough insulin (the hormone that
signals when glucose needs to be stored), because of a problem
with the pancreas. Type 1 diabetes usually develops in
childhood. People with type 2 diabetes frequently produce lots
of insulin, but their cells have become less sensitive to it.
Whether there is too little insulin or too little response to
insulin, the result is the same: soaring blood glucose levels.
Over time, the extra circulating glucose causes irreversible
damage to many tissues. Type 2 diabetes is often referred to as
adult-onset diabetes, but new research shows that its prevalence
is growing in adolescents. The new study, published in Archives
of Pediatric and Adolescent