2 ways to reduce your child's diabetes risk

The threat of diabetes among children is growing — but only because of choices we are making about how we let our kids live. Keeping these 2 factors in mind can help parents lead their children down a healthier path.

• Type 1 diabetes had long been the primary cause of diabetes in children. Until recently, type 2 diabetes was virtually unheard of among children
• But thanks to soaring rates of childhood obesity, plummeting hours of active play and a penchant for sugary soft drinks, 30 percent of children who celebrated their 11th birthday in 2011 will ultimately develop diabetes
• So will many of the estimated two million teens that already have pre-diabetes, and the three million more with metabolic syndrome, new research shows
• Once considered a disease of the elderly, type 2 diabetes is no longer called an "adult-onset" condition. While it can take a decade for diabetes to develop, pediatricians are sounding the alarm about high blood sugar in children and teens
• And new research is spotting an alarming trend: a dramatic rise in diabetes rates in people in their 20s and 30s — often the legacy of being overweight or obese in their younger years

• Our diets have changed in a very major way — in a word, it's all about the sugar
• In countries in which packaged foods and soft drinks are a regular part of everyday diets, as much as 16 percent of daily calories can come from added sugars. More sugar means more calories, more weight gain, more diabetes
• Sipping one or two sweet drinks a day raises the risk for diabetes by 26 percent, one new Harvard School of Public Health study shows
• But fructose, a key component of the two most-used sweeteners in the modern diet (sugar and corn syrup), may raise risk another way
• Research shows fructose raises levels of uric acid in the bloodstream, which can interfere with the ability of your cells to absorb blood sugar
• High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and table sugar (cane or beet sugar) contain equal amounts of fructose — about 50 percent. Experts say both are metabolized in nearly identical ways in the human body

With highly processed foods and sugary soft drinks leading children into potentially dangerous health conditions such as obesity and diabetes, it is important for parents to understand the threat in order to counteract it.

Limiting or eliminating added sugars and encouraging exercise and a well-balanced diet while children are young is the best way to set them up for success as they grow.