New Delhi: The rising prevalence of Type 2 diabetes among young people is becoming a significant public health concern, as experts warn of a shift in what was once considered an “adult-onset” disease.
Dr. Sashidhar Reddy Gutha, a general physician and diabetologist at Yashoda Hospitals in Hyderabad, highlighted in an interview with HT Lifestyle that Type 2 diabetes is now increasingly being diagnosed in teenagers and individuals in their early 20s.
According to Dr. Gutha, this disturbing trend is driven by lifestyle, genetic, and environmental factors. One major contributor is childhood obesity, particularly excess abdominal fat, which impairs the body’s insulin response.
Poor dietary habits, including high consumption of sugary and ultra-processed foods, also play a critical role, along with sedentary lifestyles and increased screen time, which reduce metabolic efficiency. Genetics significantly influences risk, especially in those with a family history of diabetes.
Additionally, South Asians are more genetically predisposed to early-onset diabetes due to inherited traits and traditional diets. What makes this trend even more troubling is that early-onset diabetes tends to progress faster, causing a quicker decline in insulin production and earlier onset of complications such as heart disease and nerve damage.
Health experts urge parents, educators, and policymakers to treat this as a serious wake-up call and implement preventive measures focused on lifestyle changes and early diagnosis.
