Posted on 08/23/22
| News Source: WMAR2NEWS
New research out of the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center shows an increased number of children were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Researchers could not conclude whether COVID itself was indeed a factor in the rise, considering rates were already going up pre-pandemic.
However, they do believe the switch to virtual learning and the shutting down of sports and school activities are likely to have increased the risk.
They cite reduced physical activity and weight gain as being well-known risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Approximately one-third of American youth are considered at risk due to being overweight or obese.
“During the COVID-19 lockdown, children were removed from normal day-to-day routines like going to school, playing sports and other hobbies,” said Dr. Sheela N. Magge, director of the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology at the Children’s Center. “Not only were they less physically active, they were confined to their homes and spent a lot more time watching TV, playing video games, or with other electronic devices.”
To conduct the study researchers examined the records of 3,113 patients between the ages of 8 and 21 across the country, comparing the total number of new diagnoses in the two years leading up to the pandemic with that of the first year of the pandemic.
Results revealed a 77 percent hike in case rates during that first year.
The same study showed more boys (55%) were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes than girls (45%), a reversal from pre-pandemic years.