Hawaii Researchers Receive CDC Grant to Study Increased Incidence of Child Diabetes in State

The CDC has awarded Hawaii researchers a five-year, $3.2 million grant to study the growing incidence of diabetes in children, the Honolulu Advertiser reports. Six investigators, aided by the state's largest insurers and medical institutions, will compile data about the "type and number of diabetes" cases among children. The Advertiser reports that the CDC selected Hawaii in part because the state has a "unique diabetes registry" of 30,000 people, an ethnically diverse population and a high rate of the disease. Diabetes disproportionately affects minorities, and the state's diabetes rate of 10% to 15% is more than double the national rate of 5%. Researchers suspect that Type 2 diabetes --the less severe but more widespread form of the disease that is "generally treatable by lifestyle change" -- is becoming more prevalent in younger children because of a rising incidence of obesity due to poor eating habits and a lack of exercise. According to Dr. Beatriz Rodriguez, one of the investigators in the study, about 25% of children with diabetes "have other risk factors," such as high cholesterol and blood pressure. "We believe the magnitude of the problem is greater than we can actually count," she said. Researchers are concerned that the increased diabetes rate among children will lead to greater health problems later in life. Dr. David Curb, a study investigator and CEO and medical director of the Pacific Health Research Institute, said, "The worrisome part is you're now seeing kids who are at risk in their 30s and 40s of having major cardiovascular disease and other complications. It can lead to blindness, amputations, heart problems. The longer the person has this disease, the more time it has to do damage." He added, "This is potentially the epidemic of the next 20 years" (Creamer, Honolulu Advertiser, 7/11).