Doctors identify Key Signs of Diabetes in Children
Jakarta,Indonesia – Pediatric diabetes is on the rise,and internal medicine and endocrine metabolic consultant,Dicky Stageary,Sp.PD-KEMD, is urging parents to be vigilant for early warning signs. Speaking at a health discussion in Jakarta on Thursday,Dr. Stageary highlighted several indicators that could signal diabetes in children.
Frequent urination, including bedwetting in older children, is a meaningful symptom, indicating elevated blood sugar levels. Dr. Stageary also pointed to physical changes, specifically darkening of the skin around the neck or the back of the neck, as a potential sign of insulin resistance – a precursor to diabetes. “Insulin resistance usually starts to appear when you are a teenager. For children, it usually looks a bit visible on the neck or nape of the neck and it becomes a bit black on the back,” he explained.
A decline in growth,where a child’s weight decreases despite previously healthy growth,is another concerning sign. Dr. Stageary,who also chairs the Metabolic Disorder,Cardiovascular and Aging (MVA) Cluster at the Faculty of Medicine,University of Indonesia (IMERI-FKUI),noted a shift in the causes of childhood diabetes.
“In the past, most of it was due to genetics or type 1 diabetes. But now with the increasing number of obesity in children,type 2 diabetes is also increasing,” he stated. He also serves as the Chair of the Organizational Division of the Indonesian Obesity Study Association (HISOBI).
Dr. Stageary emphasized the importance of regularly monitoring a child’s growth curve to detect potential issues early. “It can be recorded that if you have children, it means you have to diligently include them in the growth curve, whether their weight is appropriate for their age or not,” he advised.
