A GP guide to T2DM in teens and kids
Complications can be present at diagnosis or arise soon after, so it is critical to act quickly
As a result of the obesity epidemic, a particularly aggressive form of diabetes has emerged this century: paediatric type 2 diabetes mellitus.
This condition most commonly affects vulnerable populations with socioeconomic disadvantage and poor access to specialised healthcare.1
Diagnosis before age 20 is associated with up to a sixfold increase in mortality rate in mid-life compared with adult-onset disease.2
It also results in a reduced lifespan by 15 years compared with type 1 diabetes of the same duration and age of onset.3,4
