I am concerned about my nine year old son because he has gained a lot of weight this year, and he really is very active. The doctor did a blood test for thyroid, and urine for diabetes, but everything was negative. I didn’t realize there was a type 2 diabetes, and I have seen a few things about it on television lately.

Please see What is Type 1 Diabetes? and What You Need to Know about Type 2 Diabetes in Children for explanations of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The testing for diabetes is typically very similar both. The mechanism of increased blood sugar (which is the hallmark of the diagnosis of either type of diabetes) is the main difference between the two. You can find out much more about that at the above link.

MSB

[Editor’s comment: Testing for diabetes should include blood sugar levels performed by a medical laboratory. The timing of the sample (fasting, random, or postprandial) would influence how high a level is considered abnormal. See Classification and Diagnosis of Diabetes Guidelines. for further information.

Occasionally, lab blood sugar testing might be normal in an early case of diabetes, repeat blood sugar testing at the same or a different time, or performing a glucose tolerance test, might be appropriate if there is a high suspicion of diabetes despite normal initial testing. Another test, the glycosylated hemoglobin, might be used to help confirm a suspected diagnosis of diabetes, but the GHB (also called HbA1c or A1c) is not usually considered as appropriate to make an initial diagnosis. Antibody testing is occasionally done as a screening test in high-risk situations, or as confirmatory of type type 1A (autoimmune) diabetes, but is not part of routine testing.

Urine sugar tests or home glucose testing, if done, might be positive, which would make the situation more urgent to get lab testing done to confirm the abnormal results. However, urine or home glucose testing, if negative, would not exclude diabetes.

Finally, it is not unusual for boys in this age group to “pack on” a few pound in preparation for the adolescent growth spurt.

SS]