An obese three-year-old girl has made headlines today for being one of the youngest people ever to be diagnosed with lifestyle-related diabetes.
The tot, who reportedly weighs the same as an average 11-year-old, tips the scales at 35kg, or 5st 7lb.
Her doctor, Dr Michael Yafi of Houston, Texas told the European Association for the Study of Diabetes conference that the child’s type-2 diabetes diagnosis was the results of “poor nutritional habits, with uncontrolled counting of calories and fat.”
The conference audience in Stockholm were told how the girl was medicated with the drug metformin, to lower her blood sugar levels. The child’s parents were also ordered to control the little girl’s food portions, count calories, and increase her time spent exercising.
While this case has sent shockwaves around the world, Dr Yafi said that we could expect many similar reports in light of the growing childhood obesity epidemic.
“[Diabetes] was thought to be a mid-life disease. In 15 years it has gone from being something that nobody got in childhood to being quite common at the age of 10. We have taken the eye off the ball in preventing obesity, and none of this should happen,” he said.
