An Epidemiologic Profile of Children With Diabetes in the U.S.
- Joyce M. Lee, MD123,
- William H. Herman, MD, MPH45,
- Melissa L. McPheeters, PHD, MPH23 and
- James G. Gurney, PHD23
- 1Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
- 2Division of General Pediatrics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
- 3Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
- 4Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
- 5Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Address correspondence and reprint requests to Joyce M. Lee, MD, 300 NIB, Room 6E08, Campus Box 0456, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0456. E-mail: joyclee{at}umich.edu
The incidence of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes in children appears to be increasing in the U.S. (1–4), likely attributable, at least for type 2 diabetes, to the emerging epidemic of childhood obesity. Unfortunately, national prevalence estimates of children with diabetes, and nationally representative data about the demographic characteristics of children with diabetes, are limited. One study, based on just 13 cases, reported the prevalence of diabetes among adolescents aged 12–19 years to be 4.1 per 1,000 (5). We used recently released data from the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) to determine the prevalence of diabetes in U.S. children based on parental report and to examine the association between the presence of obesity and diabetes.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
The NSCH was a population-based cross-sectional household telephone survey sponsored by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, the National Center for Health Statistics, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (6). The NSCH used random-digit dialing to recruit and survey households with children <18 years of age. One child in each household was randomly selected to be the subject of the survey, and the respondent for the interview was the parent or …
