Teenaged, Yet Diabetic

A lazy life style coupled with less physical exertion and high calorific intake has led to a significant rise in diabetes among teenagers in Srinagar city, Syed Asma reports

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t the age of 15, Abdul Karim doesn’t look more than seven year old. He is skinny and his body is underdeveloped. Wearing a jacket and pajamas, he is waiting with his father to see an endocrinologist at a hospital. Hailing from Vangath in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, Karim is a voracious foodie. He feels hungry after every 30 minutes. “It worries me. Karim does not eat like a normal child. I fear he has some snake or dragon in his stomach,” says Abdul Rahim, his father.

After a thorough check up and few medical tests, Karim was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes where the pancreas either produces less beta cells or do not produce them at all which in spirals glucose level in human blood out of control. Dr Ashraf Ganaie, an endocrinologist says, “Type 1 Diabetes, a viral disease, is not as common is Kashmir as it is in other parts of the world. Type 2 Diabetes is more common and has shown significant rise among youth due to a lazy life style.”

The disease which affects people after the age of 45 is now seen in teenagers and even children in Kashmir. Less physical activities and high calorie intake has led to the increase in the number of such cases. Experts say the intrusion of junk food increases the chances of children getting obese which leads to many metabolic disorders like diabetes.

“Parents do not encourage children to do much physical exercise and prefer to have them at home. This is because of the insecurity caused by the past two summers of violence and the killings of teenagers which has increased the woes of young parents,” a sociologist at Kashmir University said.

According to a survey conducted by Dr Ashraf Ganaie and his team, there has been an increase in metabolic disorders in Srinagar. The survey titled ‘Childhood Obesity and its Metabolic Consequences’ conducted in 2009-10 says that about 18 percent children in schools suffer from obesity; 18 percent have lipidemia and 10 percent have developed glucose intolerance.

The victims, if not treated in time, have high chances of being diabetic in teenages. The survey placed a significant number of children from private schools who belong to upper middle class fall in the category of obesity as well as glucose intolerance while 1.5-2 percent from middle class and upper-middle class children belonged to this category.

“We were planning to conduct it across the Kashmir valley but the previous summer of unrest created some hurdles. So we had to discontinue but we are soon going to start it again hopefully with a good sample size,” says Dr Ganaie. Another survey conducted by Dr Abdul Hameed Zargar, an endocrinologist, revealed that 27% youth in Kashmir suffer from pre-diabetic stage.

Seerat Shah, a Class 7 student was not feeling well and complained of severe headache and fatigue. “It was hard for her to complete her homework,” says her mother, Shahnaz Shah, “She only used to complain of tiredness and slept a lot.” Her parents consulted a family doctor who subjected Seerat to some medical tests which revealed that Seerat’s body has developed glucose intolerance. Doctor advised her to stay away from the junk food and do some physical exercise.

“Patients like these do not show any improvements unless they modify their life style and control their diet,” says an MBBS graduate and an intern presently posted at SMHS, one of the largest government-run hospitals in Kashmir. “If Seerat reduces fats content in her food, the diabetes in her life can be delayed, if not totally cured.”

Doctors blame working mothers for not taking out enough time for their children. “Such women do not take proper care of their children’s food habits. Many families prefer to eat packaged food which saves time but they don’t realize that the food and zero exertion can cause diseases like diabetes,” says the intern, adding, “If we understand the problem this time, we can arrest the damage and reduce the risk of diabetes in our future progeny.”

Hereditary also plays a part in spreading diabetes. The risk of diabetes increases if parents or grandparents or even any sibling have a history of diabetes. Shazia Saleem, 28, has been taking insulin externally from the last 13 years. She was in Class 9 when she fainted in her classroom. After consulting a doctor, she was diagnosed with diabetes. Her grandfather was diabetic. Dr Ganaie says the western countries are more dependent on junk food and packaged food but they have maintained their life styles so well that problems like obesity and diabetes are less prevalent as compared to India.

(The names of the victims have been changed)