New test indicates greater level of pre-diabetes

According to recent research from Canada, children with obesity who face greater risks of pre-diabetes and metabolic syndrome are not being picked up by standard fasting plasma glucose tests. However, a new oral glucose stress test revealed three times higher levels of pre-diabetes than the old tests.
The oral glucose stress test requires a post-fasting blood sample as well as two hours after drinking sugar. The study involved some 172 children with obesity aged between five and seventeen years of age. The research team found that some 25 per cent of those surveyed could be diagnosed as either pre-diabetic of suffering from metabolic syndrome.
The research team presented their findings at the Endocrine Society 90th Annual meeting held in San Francisco. The study raises important questions about how children are screened and tested for diabetes .