ISSN 1662-4009 (online)

ESPE Yearbook of Paediatric Endocrinology (2022) 19 12.1 | DOI: 10.1530/ey.19.12.1


Diabetes research and clinical practice 2022;185:109785. doi: 10.1016/j.diabres.2022.109785

Brief Summary: This systematic review estimated 41 600 new incident cases of T2DM in children under age 20 years globally in 2021.

Comment: Worldwide estimates of T2DM incidence in children and adolescents under 20 years, both at regional and national levels, were reached by a systematic review and ecological modeling analysis. The latter entails the construction and analysis of mathematical models of ecological processes, either analytic or simulation-based, that predict possible changes in real ecosystems. The association between the risk of T2DM and obesity was confirmed. The highest T2DM incidence was observed in Iran and the lowest in Germany. Considering population sizes, the top three countries with the highest estimated incidences were China, India and the United States of America. The Western Pacific was the region with the highest estimated new incidences, accounting for one-third of the global incidence of T2DM, followed by Africa.

The 41 600 new incidences of diagnosed T2DM in children and adolescents are equivalent to 32% of the estimated incidence of type 1 diabetes (T1DM) in the same age group according to the International Diabetes Federation Atlas. If undiagnosed T2DM cases were also considered, the number of T2DM in children and adolescents would be substantially greater.

Although this epidemiological study has some limitations due to the paucity of studies and their heterogeneity, the numbers are frightening, especially considering the evidence of early onset of complications in young people, see paper 12.3 (DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2100165) in this chapter.

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