Sugary drinks may lead Latinos to diabetes

LOS ANGELES, Nov 21, 2005 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A University of Southern California-Los Angeles study shows overweight Latino children consuming many sugary drinks may be at a higher risk for diabetes.

Such overweight Latino children show signs of beta cell decline, a precursor of type 2 diabetes, according to researchers at USC's Keck School of Medicine.

Nearly one of four Latino children in the United States is overweight, with the increasing obesity rates paralleling the growing incidence of pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes in overweight teens.

Now researchers report high sugar intake during childhood may play a key role in the development of diabetes in that vulnerable population.

The researchers' previous studies showed Latino children are more likely to be insulin-resistant than white children, regardless of how fat they are -- a finding scientists say is likely linked with genetic issues.

"Clearly, this is a group that faces a higher risk for metabolic problems," says Jaimie Davis, a research associate at the USC Institute for Prevention Research and the study's lead author. "But findings suggest even modest reductions in sugar intake might preserve beta cell function and prevent metabolic disorders in these children."

The study appears in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

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