Diabetes link to childhood poverty

PORTLAND, Ore., June 23 (UPI) -- A 34-year study indicates diabetes strikes harder at people who are disadvantaged in youth, compared to better-off peers, U.S. researchers said.

Lead author Siobhan Maty of the Portland State University School of Community Health in Oregon and colleagues evaluated data from a study of adults ages 17 to 94 residing in Alameda County, Calif., from 1965 through 1999.

Of the 5,913 participants, 307 developed diabetes. Almost 65 percent were from poor households in childhood. Fifty-four percent of those with diabetes were women.

"Our study, among others, shows a strong, persistent effect of childhood socioeconomic position on the development of diabetes in adulthood, even after taking later-life socioeconomic position into account," Maty said in a statement.

"Type 2 diabetes can take 10 to 15 years to develop to the point where the individual is aware of signs and symptoms and seeks clinical care."

The long study allowed for "better estimation of the number of study participants who developed diabetes during that time period, and "gives us enough cases to ensure statistically meaningful results," Maty said.

The study was published in the American Journal of Public Health.