Number of Pre-Diabetic Kids On The Rise

(MOBILE, Ala.) November 7 - Parents listen up, federal health officials warn a lot of young people are at risk of developing full blown diabetes.

Researchers from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health examined data that showed 2 million adolescents and teens have a pre-diabetic condition linked to obesity and inactivity. Dr. Carol Parks of Providence Hospital says that makes sense.  "Our children, our adolescents are accustomed to eating fast food, I would bet at least one meal out of every days time," says Dr. Parks.

Some students believe a variety of unhealthy snacks also play a role.  "At my school our snack machine has Snickers, M & M's, blow pops anything 50 cents," says Mobile student, Jemelia Rainer.

Parents believe the holidays can especially hard on adolescents that are diabetic.  "All the pies and treats we eat during the holidays is probably gonna make diabetes go up," says Mobile parent, Michael Mott.

But Dr. Parks says there are steps adolescents can take to change their health.  "If they exercise, if they decrease the amount of carbohydrates they take in they may not even become diabetic at a later age," says Dr. Parks.

Doctors say these teens need to find out if they have a history of diabetes where they can make changes now instead of having to take diabetes medicine for the rest of their lives.

The study also showed among overweight adolescents, one in six have pre-diabetes.

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