The recent released IDF Diabetes Atlas 2019 shows India has the maximum number of children with Type 1 diabetes, followed by the US and China. Where the number of children and adolescents with diabetes is increasing every year.

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India is leading in both existing and new cases of Type 1 diabetes. As of 2019, there are over 1 million children and adolescents having Type 1 diabetes. India has 15,900 new cases of diabetes, following by US and Brazil having 14,700 and 7,300 cases respectively. Where India is leading with 95,600 existing cases of Type 1 diabetes amongst children up to the age of 14, followed by 94,200 in the USA and 51,500 in Brazil.

The situation in Kerala is not different experts suggest. Dr. K R Thankappan from Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology said, “There is no specific data on Type 1 diabetes from Kerala. But about 5% of all diabetes cases come under Type I.” Diabetologist Sreejith N Kumar said, “Due to strong public health policy, western countries are able to reverse diabetes incidence by bringing in lifestyle changes and introducing suitable food policy. But that is not really happening here.”

Diabetes is a threat to people living with the disease. The disease puts you at the risk of developing a number of serious and life-threatening complications, leading to an increased need for medical care, reduced quality of life, and undue stress on families. If diabetes and its complication are not well managed can lead to frequent hospitalization and premature death. Diabetes is among the top 10 causes of death at the global level.

As the reports suggest the incidence of Type 1 diabetes is increasing worldwide with some regions having a much higher incidence than others. Though the reasons are unclear, the rapid increase probably due to environmental and perhaps lifestyle-related changes, such as rapid weight gain or inappropriate feeding in infancy.

In all 1,110,100 children and adolescents under the age of 20 are estimated to have Type 1 diabetes globally.

Under the age of 15 years, around 98,200 children and adolescents are diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes annually. When the age range extends to ‘under 20 years’ this number increases to 1,28,900.

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