Investigation of Factors Contributing to Diabetes Risk in American Indian/Alaska Native Youth.

This study investigated the relationship between family history, sedentary behaviors, and childhood risk for type 2 diabetes. Participants were 480 students attending schools on or near an American Indian reservation. Data were collected through survey and BMI measurement. Children who frequently watched television or played video games did not signifi cantly diff er in BMI compared to peers. However, children with a parental history of diabetes had signifi cantly higher BMIs than children without. Type 2 diabetes is approaching epidemic rates of prevalence (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2002), especially among American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs). Furthermore, type 2 diabetes is affl icting AI/ANs at a continually younger age of onset. Several studies have been done to investigate the cause of diabetes (Hegele, Cao, Harris, Hanley, & Zinman, 1999; Martin, Warram, Krolewski, Bergman, Soeldner, & Kahn, 1992; Owen, Stride, Ellard, & Hattersley, 2003), but few have explored the reasons for the decreasing age of onset specific to the AI/AN population. The increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes among younger individuals has been attributed to lifestyle changes in diet and physical activity (Weir & Lipscombe, 2004). Modernization has resulted in a decrease in exercise and an increase in caloric and fat intake, which causes obesity – a risk factor for diabetes (Rosenbloom et al., 2000). Obesity is of particular concern given that AI/AN children have shown levels of obesity consistently higher than those of national averages and other ethnic groups (Baranowski et al., 2006; Caballero et al., 2003). Other risk factors for diabetes include family history: body mass index (BMI) greater than 25; a sedentary lifestyle; hypertension; dyslipidemia; American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research: The Journal of the National Center American Indian and Alaska Native Programs, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center (http://aianp.uchsc.edu/)