41% increase in type II diabetes diagnoses in the young

Type II diabetes is associated with the older generation, yet the number of young people being treated for the disease has increased by 41% in the last 4 years according to NHS data. This data only includes patients in Paediatric Diabetes Units, so the number is likely to be a conservative one. The Local Government Association claims that this is a result of childhood obesity, and said that 22,000 children are now classed as severely obese when they enter secondary school. They argue that councils’ public health funding is invested in fighting obesity, and the government’s decision to cut that funding needs to be reversed.
Chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, Cllr Izzi Seccombe, said: “These figures are a sad indictment of how we have collectively failed as a society to tackle childhood obesity, one of the biggest health challenges we face. The Government’s childhood obesity plan sets out bold ambitions to halve the number of obese children by 2030. But we need urgent action now. Councils with their public health responsibilities are on the frontline fighting obesity but for this to work effectively they need to be properly resourced. Cutting their public health funding is short-sighted and undermines any attempt to help our children live healthy and fulfilling lives.”
Chair of the campaign group Action on Sugar, Graham MacGregor, said: “Type II diabetes is a disaster for the child and their family and for the NHS. If a child gets type II diabetes, it’s condemning them to a lot of complications of that condition, such as blindness, amputations and kidney disease. These figures are a sign that we are in a crisis and that the government doesn’t seem to be taking action, or not enough and not quickly enough.”