Alarming rates of youth-onset type 2 diabetes have emerged among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in northern Australia. 

Experts say youth-onset type 2 diabetes is more prevalent among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people than in any population of youth internationally within the past 25 years, and ten times higher than previously reported in Australia.

For the first time, researchers have used primary health care data as the basis of prevalence estimates. 

“Only 14 per cent of young people in our study, defined as before the age of 25 years, had blood glucose levels within recommended targets,” says NT Health Paediatric Endocrinologist, Dr Angela Titmuss.

“For those falling outside of the target, the risk of developing complications such as kidney damage at a young age is significantly increased.

“This reflects the reality that the majority of young people in this study are living in poverty with very high levels of educational disadvantage. 

“They are also living with the impacts of intergenerational trauma including exposure to multiple adverse early childhood experiences which we know contributes greatly to the development of chronic disease in later life, including diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Lack of food security further compounds these issues.”

More details are accessible here.