Tue Sep 9, 5:38 PM ET

Add Health - AFP to My Yahoo!

CHICAGO (AFP) - Obesity-related, or type II, diabetes is the leading form of the illness among Taiwanese children and adolescents, according to a study released that is likely to have major health implications for the Asian nation.

AFP/File Photo  In Yahoo! Health Heartburn Is it GERD?    More from Yahoo! Health:  •  Check your symptoms    •  How is it diagnosed?    •  Learn about treatment

Researchers who analyzed data from a national screening program of 2.86 million Taiwanese students between the ages of six and 18, reported that the rate of type II diabetes was six times that of type I or insulin-dependent diabetes, in newly-diagnosed cases.

The analysis found that 13 to 15-year-olds, and girls, in particular, were at highest risk for the illness, with obesity, age, high blood pressure and a family history of diabetes cited as the major risk factors.

"To our knowledge, the high rate of type II diabetes mellitus in this young population has never been noted before in Taiwan," the authors wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association (news - web sites).

"Therefore, the results of this study will have significant public health ramifications."

The disease has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, with 17 million Americans said to suffer from diabetes -- 16 million of them with the adult-onset form of the disease, which typically afflicts people aged 40 and up, and is most often linked with obesity and lack of exercise.

Email Story   Post/Read Msgs   Formatted Story Ratings: Would you recommend this story? Not at all 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 Highly