A senior health official Wednesday warned that an increasing
number of Chinese children are suffering from diabetes as a result
of unhealthy lifestyles.
A survey of chronic diseases by Beijing Children's Hospital
involving 17,311 youngsters aged eight to 18, found more than 21
percent of them were obese and a little over?two percent had
type 2 diabetes.
Kong Lingzhi, deputy director of the disease prevention and
control bureau under the Ministry of Health, said: "The figures
reflect the trend that the number of children suffering from type 2
diabetes might soon exceed the number of those with type 1
diabetes."
A doctor teaches a lesson
of diabetes to students in Huiwen Middle School in Chaohu, Anhui
Province Nov. 14, 2007. (photo: Xinhua)
Type 1 diabetes is genetic condition, while type 2 diabetes is
usually caused by an unhealthy lifestyle. The latter most commonly
occurs in people who are older than 40, according to medical
data.
Kong said the Ministry of Health was considering conducting a
national survey on diabetes for all children aged under 18.
According to the ministry, there are about 250 million people
with diabetes around the world, and about 20 million in China.
Yesterday marked the first United Nations World Diabetes Day -
it had been known simply as World Diabetes Day since 1991 - with
the theme being diabetes in youngsters.
As a part of the celebrations, the Chinese government handed out
7,000 free copies of a book about the disease to teachers, parents
and children all over the country.
The text was also made available online.
Yang Wenying, the book's editor and a diabetes expert with the
China-Japan Friendship Hospital, said it provides answers to the
key questions about how to minimize the risk of children
contracting diabetes.
"Chronic diseases like diabetes and obesity were once reported
only in affluent urban areas. But these days, they are becoming
increasingly common in rural areas due to people's changing
lifestyles," Yang said.
Guan Jie, deputy headmaster of the No 11 Middle School in
Beijing, said he believed both school and family should play a
bigger role in teaching children about the dangers of obesity and
diabetes.
"We teach students what diabetes is and how they can help
prevent it by eating a balanced diet and doing more exercise.
"We encourage all of our students to do at least one hour of
physical exercise every day," he said.
(China Daily November 15, 2007)
