Katharina Buczek
Approximately two hundred and eighty-three thousand Americans under the age of 20 have been diagnosed with diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. The World Health Organization (WHO) also released a statement surrounding diabetes risk among children in August of 2022, noting a global health concern.
“The frequency of diabetes is rising around the world, and studies are showing children are at an increased risk of developing the disease,” the WHO said.
“Over time, diabetes can damage the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves, causing chronic problems and early death.”
And although sugar does not directly cause diabetes, both children and adolescents are more likely to receive a diabetes diagnosis if they are overweight. This presents a significant problem since there is an obesity epidemic in the United States.
Between 2017 and 2020, 14.7 million U.S. children and adolescents between the ages of 2 and 19 were affected by obesity. This translates to nearly 20% of youth.
Obesity is also much more prevalent among children from low-income communities, which lack access to resources, high food quality, and food security.
In fact, the highest obesity prevalence of over 26% percent is among Hispanic children. Next, nearly 25% of non-Hispanic Black children have obesity.
These figures are drastically higher than the 16% of non-Hispanic White children and the 9% of non-Hispanic Asian children who are severely overweight.
This points to the dire need for accessible, whole foods in low-income communities– a cause that researchers from UTHealth Houston recently investigated.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
