Type 2 diabetes is getting more frequent in children. Also it requires more aggressive treatment at the start of diagnosis due to the fact that one drug is not enough to control blood sugars. A study conducted in type 2 children found that common diabetes-control medications failed to work in children and also there is an increased lifetime risk for serious complications such as heart attack and stroke.

Dr. Terri H. Lipman,(co-investigator from the Miriam Stirl Endowed Term Professor of Nutrition and Professor of Nursing of Children) an expert in pediatric diabetes, stated that, "Increases in childhood obesity have yielded an increased incidence of type 2 diabetes in children." "It is important to understand that the epidemic of type 2 diabetes in youth is secondary to high caloric intake and low activity. Both of these causes are a result of a multitude of socioeconomic factors that include food deserts and lack of safe places for activity."

Researchers analyzed 699 overweight children, aged 10 to 17, who were recently diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, and found that 46 percent of those treated with the drug metformin, commonly used for diabetes control in adults, were not able to maintain healthy blood sugar levels. They needed to begin more powerful insulin injections within slightly less than a year.

The researchers conducted the study to identify the best treatment for youth with type 2 diabetes. The participants were randomly grouped into three and each group received only metformin, a standard diabetes medication, metformin and a second medication, rosiglitazone and metformin and an intensive diet, exercise, and weight-loss program respectively.

All three regimens yielded high failure rates and were unable to control blood sugar levels. Metformin alone failed in 52 percent of participants; metformin plus rosiglitazone failed in 39 percent of participants; and metformin plus the diet program failed in 47 percent of participants.

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