ABSTRACT
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), a diagnosis once restricted to the adult population, is now recognized as a disease of the pediatric age group with escalating numbers of new cases referred to as an ‘‘epidemic’’ by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) (1,2). A similar trend of increasing numbers has also been reported in children from around the world (3-12). T2DM is a heterogeneous condition in which social, behavioral, and environmental factors contribute to unravel the genetic susceptibility leading to the clinical expression of the disease. Insulin resistance and b-cell failure with inadequate insulin secretion are the pathophysiological abnormalities of T2DM. This chapter will review the physiology of insulin sensitivity and secretion during childhood growth and development, and the abnormalities in these that lead to T2DM.
