[August 01, 2011] Diabetes on the rise in Garden City youth Tweet Jul 30, 2011 (The Garden City Telegram - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Diabetes is rising sharply among the more than 7,000 students in the Garden City Public Schools. It is primarily Type 2 diabetes, once called adult onset diabetes, and it's no longer confined to adults. Polly Witt, the USD 457 Health Services coordinator, reports there were 3,389 diabetes-related visits to the district's 15 registered nurses or their associates in the 2010-11 school year. That compares with 1,993 in 2009-10 and 823 in 2008-09. "There are four times as many office visits for diabetes as there were just three years ago," Witt said. "This is predominantly Type 2. In the past, you never saw that in youth. It was adults in their 40s and 50s. We're seeing diabetes in every age group. That is scary." There is, the 457 health officer said, even one child in pre-kindergarten who suffers from the illness. Children with diabetes are in the elementary schools, intermediate centers, middle schools and high school. USD 457 student data for the past three school years mirrors data for the Finney County population overall in 2005 and 2008, the latest reports available from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta. According to that report, 8.1 percent of the population in the county had been diagnosed with diabetes in 2008. In 2005, the CDC said 6.5 percent of the Finney County population suffered from diabetes, a nearly three-point increase. This is a potential killer that doesn't have to be. It can be controlled in students as well as adults, according to Rochester, Minn.'s famed Mayo Clinic, with the old standbys, diet and exercise bolstered, in some cases, with insulin injections. School nurses are not the only health professionals who have noticed the diabetes increase among the young. "We do see quite a bit of childhood obesity, which may lead to type II diabetes," said Tammy Bailes, the nurse practitioner for the Finney County Health Department. "The Garden City Recreation Commission has special programs for kids to encourage physical activity and good eating habits." She said children and adults can get help there or the Garden City Family YMCA. With type 2 diabetes, the body either resists the effects of insulin, which regulates cellular sugars, or simply doesn't produce enough. Untreated, type 2 diabetes kills. Insulin injections are the usual treatment combined with diet and exercise if diet and exercise alone fail. When the blood sugar level soars and is not controlled, long-term complications include blindness, increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, amputation of limbs and kidney failure. Stress also is a factor. "We had a student, his blood sugar elevated when he went to band," Witt said. "It might happen with another child when he or she goes to PE (physical education). There are so many variables." She noted the prevalence of obesity and diabetes and their proven connections. "What we're seeing in our kids is reflected in our adults," the health coordinator said. "We eat more and work less. Fruits and vegetables are important. Lifestyles have changed for the worse. Once we might have had an eight-ounce Coke. Now it's a two-liter bottle. Getting all the sugary things out of the house would not hurt. Adding fresh fruit would help. That is what I believe." She said obese kids are as malnourished as severely under weight third world children who have not eaten in days. "Often, you will have diabetes for 10 years before you are diagnosed," Witt said "Quite often, it is discovered by an ophthalmologist or optometrist who finds a damaged eye when they are fitting someone for glasses." She said all the students being seen in Garden City schools are receiving insulin injections. "If it is a kindergartner, we do teach them how to calculate their blood sugar and other management techniques," she said. The basic cause for increasing diabetes reports, the health coordinator said, is bad diet and no exercise. "You don't have to go join a gym," Witt said. "Ride a bike. Go for a walk. Just move around." To see more of The Garden City Telegram or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.gctelegram.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The Garden City Telegram, Kan. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]