Adolescent Immigration and Type-2 Diabetes

Type-2 diabetes (T2D) in children and adolescents has become an increasingly important public health concern, currently accounting for nearly half of all diabetes cases in this age group in some countries. With immigration growing worldwide, immigrants as a subpopulation warrant special attention. Although the association of immigration and T2D has been explored in older persons, few studies have examined it in adolescent immigrants.

Of 64 studies, only 8 were relevant and elaborated on in this review. Our findings show that adolescent immigrants to Western countries seem to benefit an overall favorable metabolic profile that is associated with lower odds to dysmetabolism. However, this protective effect wanes over time with longer years of residency and plateaus at approximately a decade from arrival. As immigration becomes a global phenomenon, pediatric T2D in these special populations has major public health and socioeconomic implications. Improving immigrants' access to healthcare, healthcare education and utilization, and specific cultural programs for prevention and treatment of T2D are important to ensure the accessibility of preventive medical services to young immigrants. Further research should be considered to help identify at-risk youth.