\u201cYears ago, type 2 was something you saw in adults \u2026 1764605232 we\u2019re seeing children at the age of 8 get it. People have commonly called type 2 \u2018lifestyle [diabetes]\u2019, that\u2019s certainly not the case for an 8-year-old.<\/p>\n
\u201cGenerally, what the evidence is showing is that the mother has type 2 diabetes and that has become genetic \u2013 that\u2019s what we call \u2018intergenerational\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
While diabetic parents with poor diets may be contributing to their children\u2019s likelihood of getting type 2 diabetes by passing their bad eating habits on, Verry told Cowan that\u2019s not the entire story.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a combined thing; they [children with type 2] are not always the children that are the most overweight in the classroom by any means\u2026 it can be culture and lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n
The potential dangers of early onset type 2 diabetes are severe. Those with the condition are at greater risk of going blind, of having cardiovascular issues, renal disease, a stroke, or requiring a lower limb amputation.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnless it\u2019s picked up really early and some intervention and supports [are] given to those kids, because it\u2019s so aggressive, the chances are they could well end up being in the renal unit with kidney disease by the time they\u2019re 18,\u201d Verry warned.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Type 2] is the slowly moving one; you get pre-diabetes and then diabetes and then, if you don\u2019t manage your diabetes, that\u2019s when you lead to these complications.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, if you\u2019re getting diabetes at 50, the chances of getting the complications are probably not quite so real as they are when you\u2019re getting diabetes when you\u2019re eight.\u201d<\/p>\n
While our health records show about 350,000 are diagnosed with diabetes, there are estimated to be about 1 million New Zealanders who are undiagnosed or have pre-diabetes, Verry told Real Life.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m often asked to go and talk to different clubs like Lions Clubs and Rotary, and it\u2019s always interesting how, when they start to ask questions, you start to figure out how many actually have got diabetes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI try and wake them up and say, \u2018Are you aware you need to keep checking your feet? A small tiny sore on your foot could end up with you having a lower limb amputation and your life expectancy after that is not that long, it can be five years.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cThey react quite hard. They say, \u2018Oh my gosh, this is really serious\u2019. And I say, \u2018Yes, you do need to take it seriously. You can\u2019t just pull the wool over your eyes and pretend it\u2019s not there. You need to actually do something about it so you can lead a healthier life\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Verry says telltale signs of diabetes are being frequently thirsty, going to the toilet more regularly, feeling lethargic, and sometimes, unexpectedly losing weight.<\/p>\n
She says New Zealand is tracking towards a much higher prevalence of diabetes in the future, especially given our population is ageing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did a study some years ago with PwC in partnership with other organisations, and the results showed that the prevalence of diabetes type 2 was going to increase between 70-90% over 20 years,\u201d Verry told Cowan.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince we\u2019ve done that, the data is showing that we\u2019re certainly sitting at the 90%. And this is a global issue, this is not just New Zealand \u2013 it does mean that countries have to take some really serious interventions.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of those interventions is being more conscious of food choices \u2013 which Verry acknowledges can be a hard thing to get on top of.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, the type of foods that we\u2019re indulging in \u2013 takeaways and processed foods \u2013 don\u2019t help. Sometimes both parents are working, and it\u2019s easier to go and get a bucket of KFC or fish and chips than making a healthy dinner with a lot of vegetables,\u201d Verry told Real Life.<\/p>\n
\u201cVegetables can be expensive, so that makes it a little harder, and I think people aren\u2019t aware that potatoes and rice and white bread are actually sugar and they are what\u2019s contributing towards this whole lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cYears ago, type 2 was something you saw in adults \u2026 1764605232 we\u2019re seeing children at the age…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[64865,3500,23159,1061,3535,42,10900,78,424,43,69,1118,1523,6115,1436,106955,40,38,41,39,66416,37007,106954,303,8218,102],"class_list":["post-162897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-alarm","tag-ceo","tag-challenging","tag-children","tag-diabetes","tag-headlines","tag-heather","tag-in","tag-life","tag-news","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-over","tag-real","tag-rise","tag-sounding","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-type","tag-uptick","tag-verry","tag-very","tag-warns","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}