What is it about?
This study looks at how common prediabetes and type 2 diabetes are among teenagers in the United States and what factors increase their risk. Prediabetes means blood sugar is higher than normal but not yet diabetes, while type 2 diabetes is a serious condition that affects how the body handles sugar. We analyzed the most recent national health data from 2021–2023 to get an up-to-date picture of these conditions in teens. Unlike earlier studies that mostly focused on weight, we also looked at lifestyle habits, diet, physical activity, body measurements, and social and economic factors to understand which teens are most at risk. We found that nearly 1 in 3 U.S. teens (31%) had prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. The risk was highest among teens with more fat around the waist, even more than general overweight or obesity. Male teens and younger adolescents were also more likely to have prediabetes or diabetes, while female teens were at lower risk. Other factors, such as diet, blood pressure, and cholesterol, were linked to higher risk in simple analyses, but the strongest predictor was central fat around the waist.
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Why is it important?
This work is important because type 2 diabetes is becoming more common in young people and can lead to serious health problems such as kidney, heart, nerve, and eye damage earlier in life than adult-onset diabetes. Our study is timely because it uses data from after the COVID-19 pandemic, a period that affected teen health and lifestyles. Early awareness and prevention can make a real difference. From a clinical and public health perspective, these findings show that simply looking at a teen’s body mass index (BMI) may miss those at highest risk. Measuring waist-to-height ratio during routine checkups could help doctors identify at-risk teens earlier, especially boys, and provide guidance or interventions to reduce waist fat before blood sugar problems develop. By combining early awareness with targeted prevention strategies, we can help teens stay healthier and reduce the risk of serious diabetes complications later in life.
Perspectives
Writing this article was especially meaningful for me as someone interested in type 2 diabetes due to both family history and my clinical exposure to the disease. Seeing how prediabetes and type 2 diabetes affect young people firsthand made me want to better understand what puts teens at risk and how we can prevent or delay the disease. Using the most recent national data allowed me to explore not just weight, but also lifestyle and social factors that influence risk. I hope this work helps parents, healthcare providers, and public health programs recognize at-risk teens earlier and take action to support healthier lives. More than anything, I hope it raises awareness in a constructive way, without creating alarm or placing blame, and shows that early prevention can make a real difference.
Eric Peprah Osei
University of Illinois at Chicago
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Prevalence and predictors of prediabetes/type 2 diabetes mellitus among adolescents in the United States: NHANES (2021–2023), PLOS Global Public Health, February 2026, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0005596.
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