Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) now accounts for 5% to 45% of all new cases of childhood diabetes in North America (1-3). In Manitoba in the early 1990s, the prevalence of T2DM among adolescent girls increased to 3%, and the prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance increased to 10% (4). Eighty-five percent of children with T2DM are overweight or obese, and they often belong to high-risk ethnic groups, including African American/African Canadian, Hispanic, South and Southeast Asian, and Aboriginal groups (3,5). They are typically over ten years old and are usually in mid to late puberty; most have immediate adult family members with T2DM (3,6).
Medical treatment strategies may vary over time, depending on clinical status and degree of hyperglycemia, and may include intensive lifestyle modification, use of oral hypoglycemic agents, and/or use of insulin (5). While ketosis is uncommon in adults with T2DM (7), up to 25% of children with T2DM may present with ketosis or ketoacidosis necessitating insulin therapy.
Lifestyle interventions that facilitate weight loss or prevent further weight gain are the foundation of therapy in adults and youth with T2DM (8). The current Canadian guidelines for obese youth with T2DM recommend both diet and exercise modification, and state that principles for managing T2DM in adults apply to youth with T2DM (9). These recommendations are limited, primarily because scant evidence is available on the adolescent population with T2DM.
Existing pediatric diabetes education programs for children with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) concentrate on the relationship between food and insulin and the effects of an imbalance between these two factors. Lifestyle factors important for achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight are not the primary focus, especially at disease onset when weight loss may be significant. While some components of these programs apply to children with either type of diabetes, they do not specifically address the needs of youth with T2DM. A growing body of literature supports the inclusion of lifestyle interventions in obese youth with T2DM; however, few, if any, outline how these behaviours should be taught in a program. In The Hospital for Sick Children program, as in many other diabetes programs, an increase has been noted in the diagnosis of T2DM and the educational approach used is similar to that used with youth who have T1DM.