College of Medicine to Study How Exercise, Diet 
May Prevent Adult-Onset Diabetes in Children
Nationwide Program Aims to 
Reduce Obesity and Diabetes in Children

Irvine, Calif., April 4, 2002 -- Adult-onset diabetes used to be rare in children. Not anymore. The number of children with adult diabetes and obesity has tripled in the last 20 years. 

To help find a solution to this burgeoning public health problem, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Disorders selected a UCI College of Medicine-led research team as one of seven centers nationwide to study ways to prevent children from getting adult-onset diabetes (known as "type 2" diabetes). 

The study aims to research new treatments for the disease, which is believed to be preventable. UCI expects to receive about $9 million from NIH for its part in the research, which will continue for six years.

Dr. Dan Cooper, professor of pediatrics and director of UCI's General Clinical Research Center, and his team from UCI, USC, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and other institutions, will examine how exercise and diet may reduce the risk of getting adult-onset diabetes in school-age children.

"Obesity and diabetes in childhood have been rising at alarming rates in the past few years, creating the risk that children could suffer from diabetes and its complications by the time they reach their teens," Cooper said. "This study will allow us to test innovative ways to increase physical activity in schools and therefore decrease the risk of getting type 2 diabetes at that early age. We believe this work will show us some simple ways that schools and other youth organizations could arrest the increase in type 2 diabetes, which is nearly always preventable."

Cooper and his colleagues will work with about 15 schools in Southern California, testing students in the seventh and eighth grades. The researchers will test the effectiveness of a school-based physical activity program to encourage exercise; a portable Fitness Laboratory on Wheels, which can be transported from classroom to classroom; a student-teacher education program on the advantages of physical fitness. The team also will assess how well nutrition education programs work at preventing diabetes and obesity. 

Finally, the group will test for changes in insulin sensitivity to blood sugar and changes in a number of key biochemical markers and growth factors that often indicate a risk for diabetes. These tests will attempt to find other indicators, such as the body's ability to process sugars, which could give physicians an early warning signal of impending diabetes.

While blood tests aren't always a child's favorite activity, Cooper and his team plan to test a physiological assessment system that he describes as "fun." 

"In a single morning, we can transport the students from school either to our General Clinical Research Center or a similar facility and comfortably test them for insulin, give them an exercise test they can enjoy, measure body composition and ask them questions about their diet," Cooper said. "Getting enthusiastic cooperation from students is absolutely essential to increasing their activity levels and preventing diabetes, so it's essential that we know what methods work best toward that end."

The researchers are in the process of selecting Southern California schools that will participate in the study.

According to the National Institutes of Health, about 16 million people have diabetes. It is the main cause of kidney failure, limb amputations, new onset blindness in adults, and it is a major contributor to heart disease and stroke. Type 2 diabetes accounts for more than 95 percent of all diabetes cases. The percent of children in major U.S. cities with type 2 diabetes has risen to 30 to 50 percent, up from less than five percent before 1994. Type 2 diabetes is linked closely to obesity, a sedentary lifestyle and a family history of the disease.

Cooper's colleagues in the study include Dr. Michael Goran, Donna Spruijt-Metz and Richard Watanabe of the University of Southern California; Mary Halvorsen, Dr. Francine Kaufman and Marsha Mackenzie of Children's Hospital of Los Angeles; Scott Bowman of Rancho San Joaquin Middle School, Irvine; and Nancy Rodriguez of the University of Connecticut. UCI colleagues include Stanley Bassin, Dr. Floyd Culler, MaryAnn Hill, Margaret Jamner, Dr. Dan Nemet, and Nathan Wong.

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Contact:
Andrew Porterfield
(949) 824-3969
amporter@uci.edu

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