South Asians, African-Caribbeans and diabetes

A study finds that precursors of higher risk of diabetes in South Asian and African-Caribbean adults in Britain are increased in healthy children from these ethnic groups. Scientists investigated whether ethnic differences in type 2 diabetes precursors could also be seen in 9 and 10 year old children in Britain. South Asian adults in Britain have approximately three times the risk of acquiring type 2 diabetes compared with the white British population, while people of African-Caribbean origin in Britain have roughly a two-fold greater risk. Levels of precursors of diabetes risk (particularly markers of blood glucose and insulin levels) in children mirror the disparities in adult diabetes risk. The researchers suggest that the ethnic differences in type 2 diabetes risk initially observed in immigrants to Britain persist in British-born South Asian and African-Caribbean communities.