Youngsters with diabetes who live in the most deprived areas of Scotland may not manage the disease as well as their more affluent counterparts, new research reveals.
Youngsters with diabetes who live in the most deprived areas of Scotland may not manage the disease as well as their more affluent counterparts, new research reveals.
Leading health charity Diabetes UK Scotland has warned that more needs to be done to address the imbalance after a study showed disparities between management of the disease in children and young people from different backgrounds.
The study, published in the journal Diabetic Medicine, found that, on average, blood glucose levels in children with diabetes from the most deprived areas were 0.5% higher than those from the most affluent areas.
The levels were also higher in those who were diagnosed at an older age and those who had diabetes for longer.
Reducing blood glucose levels by 1% lowers the risk of diabetes-related deaths by 21%, heart attacks by 14% and retinopathy and kidney disease by 37%, so the figures are "particularly worrying", say the charity.
Poor diabetes control leads to a higher risk of developing diabetes-related complications such as blindness and kidney disease.
The findings are based on an audit of 1742 children and young people with diabetes treated in paediatric units in Yorkshire.
The study, carried out by Professor Patricia McKinney and researchers at the Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Leeds, looked at blood glucose control in the children and young people, and factors that might explain any differences.
These factors included how old children were at diagnosis, how long they had had diabetes for, the type of area they lived in and the size of the clinic they were treated in.
Alan McGinley, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at Diabetes UK Scotland, said the findings have implications north of the border.
"The results of this study are particularly worrying as children in Scotland have the poorest diabetes control in the UK and in Europe," he said. "It raises questions that need to be investigated further in respect of the stark differences in health outcomes between the deprived and the affluent in this country.
"Diabetes UK Scotland wants all children and young people with diabetes to receive the same level of care regardless of their economic or cultural background and regardless of where they live. Local services need to invest in local paediatric diabetes services to ensure that children and families are given the support they need to self-manage and prevent the onset of devastating complications."
Good blood glucose control is essential for people with diabetes as it reduces the risk of potentially fatal complications such as heart disease and stroke in later life.
In 2005, Diabetes UK Scotland reported that Scotland compared unfavourably with the rest of the UK and that less than one in 10 children with diabetes in Scotland are achieving the recommended blood glucose control.
The number of children being diagnosed with diabetes is rising in Scotland and the rest of the UK.
Type 2 diabetes, linked to fatty foods and too little exercise, is mainly seen in adults. Type 1 affects younger people - currently around 25,000 under-25s in the UK - and has little to do with lifestyle.
There are just under 2000 young people with Type 1 diabetes under 15 in Scotland.
The number of children under five with Type 1 diabetes increased five-fold in the 20 years to 2004, and the number of under-15s with Type 1 diabetes almost doubled.
