Diabetes – Latino Kids May Develop Type 2 Diabetes Due to a High-Sugar Diet
Diet is a very important issue for people with diabetes. Everything you eat can have a positive result or not in the evolution of the disease. According to researchers at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, overweight Latino children show signs of beta cell decline, a precursor of type 2 diabetes because many consumers of sugar, especially in sugary drinks.
Today, statistics show that almost one in four Latino children in the United States are overweight, and the problem seems to be worse in the future. Obesity rates are rising along with the incidence of pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes in overweight teens. Under the researchers report published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, sugar intake during childhood may play an important role in the development of diabetes in this population.
According to experts in preventive medicine, overweight and poor diet among these children can have disastrous consequences for minority health and health care costs for future generations, if left untreated.
The research called Study of Latinos at Risk (SOLAR) Diabetes Project is carried out by the research team at the Keck School. This project examined 63 overweight Latino children in Los Angeles from 9 to 13 years old and have diabetes.
Beta cells in the pancreas, experts explain, create the hormone insulin in response to sugar from food. Energy is a necessity to cells in the tissues of the body, so they need sugar, or glucose, insulin and helps cells grab and take up glucose in the blood.