Obese three-year-old diagnosed in US with diabetes

A three-year-old obese girl has been diagnosed with diabetes in the US, one of the youngest ever people with the condition.

An “uncontrolled” calorie intake and poor family diet led to the Hispanic girl weighing 5st 7lb (35kg).

Dr Michael Yafi, from the department of paediatric endocrinology, University of Texas, Houston, presented his findings at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes conference in Stockholm.

The girl attended his clinic for evaluation of obesity.

She was suffering excessive thirst and going to the toilet a lot.

Although her parents were obese, there was no family history of diabetes.

Experts reviewed her diet and took blood tests and found “poor family nutritional habits with uncontrolled counting of calories and fat”.

Dr Yafi said: “Based on symptoms, physical findings of obesity and laboratory results, the diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes was made.”

The girl was started on a liquid version of the diabetes drug metformin and her parents were told to control food portion sizes, count calories, and increase her exercise.

The girl lost weight, which led to her blood sugar levels falling within the normal range.

Six months after she first attended the clinic, the girl was at 75% of the weight she had been.