Type 2 Diabetes in Canadian Aboriginal Adolescents: Risk Factors and Prevalence

Purpose: To identify the risk factors and prevalence rates of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes among northern Canadian Aboriginal adolescents.

Design and methods: In this novel exploratory, quantitative study, 160 high school students (aged 13-21) from three northern, predominantly Canadian Aboriginal communities were screened for risk for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes including demographic data, family medical history, anthropometric measurements, blood pressure, and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). Descriptive and inferential statistics, in addition to chi-square analysis, were used to establish risk and prevalence rates for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes in Aboriginal adolescents.

Results: At least half of the adolescents presented with multiple risk factors for type 2 diabetes. In this sample, 10% had an HbA1c>5.7%, 22.5% were overweight, 17.5% were obese, and 26.6% had prehypertension or hypertension.

Conclusions: Prediabetes and type 2 diabetes are emerging as serious health concerns for young Aboriginal Canadians. This is troubling because both result from modifiable risk factors. As this study is the first to examine the prevalence of prediabetes in Canadian Aboriginal adolescents in the last decade, the findings underscore the necessity for early screening of Aboriginal adolescents for both prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.

Practice implications: Recommendations toward positive health outcomes include the introduction of early age screening programs, followed by culturally relevant interventions, specific to the modifiable risk factors (overweight/obesity and hypertension), and developed in collaboration with the communities. Such approaches have the potential to prevent the progression of prediabetes to diabetes and reduce complications related to type 2 diabetes.