Black children with diabetes are more than two times as likely as white diabetic children to die from the disease, according to new research by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Racial disparities associated with diabetes have long been examined; however, researchers say that the trend is increasing among children ages one to 19. They found that from 2003 to 2004, the death rate from diabetes for black children and teens was 2.46 per million, compared to 0.91 for white youth of the same age.
The investigators say possible explanations for this difference are a lack of access to health-care services and quality disease education for black patients.
