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KIDS WITH PREDIABETES
KIDS WITH PREDIABETES
ANCHOR LEAD: ABOUT 2 MILLION KIDS IN THE US MAY HAVE PREDIABETES, ELIZABETH TRACEY REPORTS
A MORNING blood glucose level that IS HIGHER THAN NORMAL BUT NOT QUITE DIABETES is called impaired fasting glucose, or IFG, and it’s one test used to diagnose SO-CALLED PRE-diabetes. The CDC and the NIH have just released data showing that PRE-DIABETES is rampant among American teenagers ages 12 to 19, with roughly 2 million kids, OR 7% , affected. Christopher Saudek, a diabetes expert at Johns Hopkins, says the problem is worst among the heaviest teenagers.
SAUDEK: One scary thing about this is it refers to data from 1999 and 2000, and we know very well that the rate of obesity is doing nothing but increasing every year, so the facts are probably worse right now. If you’ve over the 95 th percentile in body weight meaning you’re heavier than 95% of people in your age group that is what greatly increases the risk up to about 17.8 percent :24
Saudek says the imperative to exercise regularly and keep weight under control is increasingly important for all age groups. I’m Elizabeth Tracey reporting.
