Question from Raleigh, North Carolina, USA:

My 13 year old son has been having weak spells off and on. He was sent for an oral glucose tolerance test. His fasting blood sugar was 96 mg/dl [5.3 mmol/L]; 30 minutes was 179 mg/dl [9.9 mmol/L]; one hour was 106 mg/dl [5.9 mmol/L]; two hour was 86 mg/dl [4.8 mmol/L]; and three hour was 95 mg/dl [5.3 mmol/L]. I was told that he was pre-diabetic and that I should take him off sugar so that it doesn’t develop into diabetes. He is 5 feet tall and weighs 85 pounds. He is not an ill child, but is very healthy and enjoys baseball and golf.

I have seen the normal ranges on the Internet and it doesn’t seem to me that he has pre-diabetes. These are the only test results that have been taken and other than a few lightheaded/weak spells he is perfectly normal. He does have very bad allergies that have been acting up a lot especially with the spring season.

What is your opinion about his glucose test levels? His grandfather has type 2 and great-grandparents have type 2, but none of his four siblings have ever been diagnosed and neither his father nor I have diabetes. All are healthy. I am very concerned and my son is very worried that something is wrong with him. Do I really need to cut out all sugar and totally change his lifestyle?