Thin babies diabetes risk higher

Main Category: Diabetes
Article Date: 26 Feb 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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A thin baby has a higher risk of developing diabetes (Type 2) later in his/her life than a normal weight baby, says a new study.

The risk is greatest when these thin babies put on weight too quickly when they are older.

Doctors are urged to monitor kids' weight more carefully. The article appears in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Professor David Barker, Southampton University, UK said 'It is the thin two-year-old not the fat one who faces the greater risk.'

There has been a huge increase in the number of children with diabetes. The great increase is in Type 2 diabetes. This increase is throughout the world.

There are at least 150 million diabetics in the world, and the numbers are increasing rapidly.