Diabetes: Latino Kids May Develop Type 2 Diabetes Due To A
High-sugar Diet
Diet is a quite important matter for diabetic people.
Everything they eat may have a consequence positive or not in
their disease evolution. According to researchers from Keck
School of Medicine of the University of Southern California,
overweight Latino children show signs of beta cell decline, a
precursor of type 2 diabetes because they are consuming lots of
sugar especially in sugary drinks.
Nowadays, statistics show that nearly one out of four Latino
children in the United States is overweight, and the problem
appears to be worse over the future. Obesity rates are
increasing along with the incidence of pre-diabetes and type 2
diabetes within overweight teens. Under a researchers' report
published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, high
sugar consumption 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 could have disastrous consequences for
minority health and the health-care costs for future
generations, if they are left untreated.
The research called Study of Latinos at Risk (SOLAR) Diabetes
Project is conducted by the research team from the Keck School.
This project examined 63 overweight Latino children in Los
Angeles from 9 to 13 years old and do not have diabetes.
Beta cells in the pancreas, experts explain, create the hormone
insulin in response to sugar from food. Energy is something
necessary to cells in the body's tissues, so they need sugar, or
glucose, and insulin helps cells grab and take up glucose in the
blood.