First Nations girls at highest risk for diabetes: study Read it on Global News: First Nations girls at highest risk for diabetes: study
Minority Diabetes Reports Wednesday, July 25th, 2012Globalsaskatoon.com: David Giles, Global Saskatoon : Wednesday, July 18, 2012 3:59 PM
A new study by researchers at the University of Saskatchewan found First Nations girls in the province face higher rates of diabetes than other children.
Dr. Roland Dyck and Nathaniel Osgood tracked the rates of diabetes in both First Nations and non-First Nations populations.
Dyck and Osgood’s research uses Ministry of Health data from 1980 to 2005, the longest time period for any study on diabetes in Canada.
“When we look at the last 10-15 years, diabetes prevalence was quite similar between the two groups,” said Dyck.
“However, by being able to go back to the early 1980s, we found diabetes was only half as prevalent among First Nations children at that time.”
Dyck says the rates increased for pre-adolescent and adolescent First Nations girls over the 25 year period.
Diabetes prevalence more than tripled in First Nations youth from 1980 to 2005, with girls increasing almost four-fold.
“We believe what we are seeing in First Nations children is largely related to the emergence of type 2 diabetes while diabetes in non-First Nations children is still predominately type 1,” said Dyck. Read More
