Type 2 Diabetes and Teenage Youth

Diabetes has been described as a disease that kills silently, and it appears to be on the rise in today’s youth. You may be asking yourself what diabetes is, what does it mean that diabetes kills silently, or why diabetes is affecting more of our teenage youth of today? Let me start by saying that these are excellent questions to ask. From here on out, I hope to inform you and hopefully pass on some helpful knowledge that you can take with you. Our focal point into diabetes and its impact on teenage youth will remain only with regards to the type 2 variety, as this is the acquired type of diabetes and is the issue that I wish to inform.

Diabetes, also called diabetes mellitus, is defined as having hyperglycemia present (Schmidt). Hyperglycemia is the medical term for excess levels of glucose (sugar) present in the bloodstream. Type 2 diabetes is associated with the body becoming resistant to pancreatic insulin that helps regulate the glucose levels in our blood (Schmidt). Because our blood glucose regulating insulin can’t perform its’ job correctly, many health problems can arise if diabetes is not maintained. Problems such as blindness, depression, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and diabetic neuropathy are just some of the potential life-changing or life-ending conditions associated with diabetes (Chua, Khan, and Liao).

Diabetes is thought of as a silent killer because its symptoms can be overlooked quite easily. Some of the symptoms can include the subtle issue with urination, eyesight blurriness, and poor wound healing because of poor blood circulation (Purcarea, Temneanu, and Trandafir). Symptoms such as these have been known to be overlooked, and the individual doesn’t respond to them until it’s too late. While symptoms are being ignored, diabetes is slowly damaging your body from the inside. Thankfully, type 2 diabetes can be regulated with proper maintenance in the form of medication and a healthy lifestyle.

What do I mean when I say that type 2 diabetes is acquired and can be maintained with a healthy lifestyle? Well, precisely that. Type 2 diabetes is directly linked to obesity and is usually developed because of poor health decisions (Fruhbeck, Leitner, and Micic). Simply put, most individuals who have type 2 diabetes are overweight and obese. Overeating, improper diet, and a lack of physical activity are major contributing factors to obesity and, thus, are directly linked to type 2 diabetes as well. By these standards, if type 2 diabetes is directly linked to obesity and our teenage youth are increasingly being found positive for type 2 diabetes, does this mean that our teenage youth of today are more obese? Many more times than in the past, experts are finding that the answer to this question is yes.

Experts are finding that obesity is becoming much more prevalent among our youth today (Simones and Yoshida). Why is this? Is it because of sweetened beverages, overeating, lack of physical activity, or perhaps, a combination of these factors? Some experts lean heavily on youth consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. Stating that the youth of today are consuming nearly twice as many calories from sugar-sweetened beverages as they did thirty years ago (Simones and Yoshida). They believe that the intake of sugar-sweetened beverages can be lowered by school-based regulations and by increasing taxation on these products.

I remember when I was in high school, and it seemed that most kids almost always had a sugar-sweetened beverage in their hands. Others believe that an intake of too many calories (overeating) is to blame for youth obesity and the stat that the BMI (Body-Mass Index) in youth is increasing dramatically (Yanovski). I know I’m guilty of just doing something quick from a fast food joint instead of eating healthy at home. I feel as though I’m extremely busy and don’t have the time to cook, so I sacrifice bodily health for the chance to save a short amount of time.

Why is our youth of today becoming less physically active? Some doctors believe that youth today are becoming more sedentary because of more screen time exposure (Banda, Calvert, and Fleming-Milici). Screen time exposure is the time spent viewing screens such as television, computers, phones, etc. Technology almost always seems to be on the rise. New and more advanced forms of technology seemingly always present themselves to us. A recent 2018 study found a significant increase in the availability of screen technology among teens (Anderson and Jiang).

Stating that 95% of teens acknowledge that they have access to a smartphone, which has seen a sharp rise of 22% in just four short years. Along with that, 88% of teens report they have access to a computer. Among the teens surveyed, 45% admit that they are online almost constantly. Could these findings have the byproduct of a higher rate of obesity, leading to more cases of type 2 diabetes amongst teens? The doctors that think more screen time exposure leads to teens being more sedentary might just agree that it does. Technology probably won’t be slowing down anytime soon, however, so the rates of availability and screen time will, more than likely, continue to rise.

I’m not here to judge anyone. Quite the opposite. I want to inform and help whomever I can by relaying facts that may be used to better others and their situations. If, because of the information that I have relayed, someone is helped, then I believe this was time well spent. Increasing our knowledge of type 2 diabetes in teenage youth, as well as adults, could save lives. Perhaps stopping the disease early, before it has a chance to develop in our youth, is an excellent point to start at. Early education on how our day-to-day decisions can positively or negatively affect our bodies might just be the key to defeating a disease like a type 2 diabetes. The linkage between type 2 diabetes and obesity is well known, and hopefully, information regarding teenage youth and type 2 diabetes is also becoming more prevalent.

Cite this page