Keywords:
Adolescent medicine; Cardiovascular system; Child health; Diabetes mellitus, type 2; Metabolic diseases
Abstract:
Collaboration between clinicians and researchers across Australia is required to establish the true prevalence and disease burden of type 2 diabetes among Indigenous young people. We need to hear from young people and families as to how diabetes and health are conceptualised amid the many competing priorities of life, aiming to improve models of care and educational strategies. Despite the high risk of cardiometabolic diseases within the Indigenous population, and our knowledge that this occurs from a young age, annual screening rates for type 2 diabetes vary from 0 to 43% across Australia, with particularly low rates reported in younger adults. Increased screening rates, especially in areas of established high risk, may contribute to earlier diagnosis and management of diabetes, and so improve long term outcomes. The “diabetes story” needs to truly engage with Indigenous people and be seen as a national priority. We need to act now to prevent a further increase in cardiometabolic conditions among children and young people, which will have long lasting impacts on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.