Diabetes, impaired fasting glucose, and elevated HbA1c in U.S. adolescents: the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
OBJECTIVE
Using population-based data, we estimated the prevalence of diabetes, impaired fasting glucose, and elevated HbA1c (>6%) levels in U.S. adolescents.


METHODS
The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1988-1994) examined a representative sample of the U.S. population, which included 2,867 adolescents aged 12-19 years who had serum glucose measured.


RESULTS
A total of 13 adolescents in the sample were considered to have diabetes; 9 reported using insulin, 2 reported using oral agents only, and 2 did not report any treatment but had high glucose levels (> or = 11.1 mmol/l regardless of length of fast or > or = 7.0 mmol/l after an 8-h fast). Four of these cases (31% of the sample with diabetes) were considered to have type 2 diabetes. The estimated prevalence of diabetes (all types) per 100 adolescents ages 12-19 years was 0.41% (95% confidence interval 0-0.86). The prevalence of impaired fasting glucose (> or = 6.1 mmol/l) among adolescents without diabetes who had fasted for at least 8 h was 1.76% (0.02-3.50). The prevalence of elevated HbA1c (>6%) was 0.39% (0.04-0.74).


CONCLUSIONS
National data reflect the presence of type 2 diabetes in U.S. adolescents, but the survey sample size was not large enough to obtain precise prevalence estimates because of the relatively low prevalence.
Fagot-Campagna
A
A
Division of Diabetes Translation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30341, USA.
Saaddine
J B
JB
Flegal
K M
KM
Beckles
G L
GL
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D018149:Glucose Intolerance / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D044469:Racial Groups; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D015415:Biomarkers; D001786:Blood Glucose; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin