ESPEYB15 13 Global Health for the Paediatric Endocrinologist Growth and Development (5 abstracts)
NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC). 1040 collaborators
To read the full abstract: Lancet 2017; 390(10113):2627-2642
Over the past 10 years, the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) has increased disproportionately in Africa, South East Asia, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific region. Interestingly, although we need more studies investigating the prevalence of T2DM in Latin America, the prevalence of T2DM in youth living in these countries does not seem to have increased markedly.
This report on the worldwide prevalence of obesity and underweight in youth is an invitation to reflect on the determinants of T2DM in youth in various low- income settings. The association of intrauterine growth retardation and of postnatal obesity is known to be a major risk factor for the development of T2DM in youth. The world map of the prevalence of underweight in children age 5-19 years shows that the Indian sub continent, and, to a smaller extent, South East Asia, the Middle East and Sub Saharan Africa all have a high prevalence of underweight in young children (likely reflecting a mix of pre- and post- natal growth retardation). The prevalence of underweight in Latin America is low. In contrast, the world map of the prevalence of obesity shows a high prevalence in Latin America and in the Middle East, contrasting with a lower prevalence in Africa and in India (although the risk for metabolic syndrome is higher in Indians compared to non-Indians for a similar body mass index, reflecting differences in body composition). These data suggest that the respective roles of obesity and of pre/postnatal growth retardation may differ in various low-income settings, which in turn may call for country-specific public health policies.