Type 2 diabetes on the rise among Wisconsin children

FILE – A patient holds a vial of insulin during a news conference outside the Olde Walkersville Pharmacy, July 28, 2019, in Windsor, Canada. Legislation to limit insulin costs for people with diabetes is getting a new push in the Senate. Democrats say they want to move quickly, but they’ll need Republican support to get anything through an evenly divided chamber. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — New data shows a sharp increase in Type 2 diabetes among children in Wisconsin and doctors think COVID-19 could be a factor.

Figures from UW Health Kids shows a nearly 200% increase in the number of cases over the last several years.

In 2018, 5.8% percent of pediatric patients with new onset diabetes at Madison’s American Family Children’s Hospital had Type 2, a disease that primarily affects adults.

In 2021, that number grew to 16.4%.

And so far in 2022, 1 in 6 pediatric patients at the children’s hospital with new onset diabetes has Type 2.