Diabetes UK reports more than 3,000 emergency hospital admissions a year for children with diabetes.
The latest figures show that last year there were more than 3,300 cases of children in England admitted to accident and emergency departments with Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).
Children and youth under the age of 18 accounted for around a quarter of the 13,465 emergency admissions for DKA during the period from April 2008 to March 2009. Additonaly, the numbers of DKA hospital admissions have risen steadily in recent years, with an increase of almost nine percent since 2006.
The UK has the fourth highest incidence of type 1 diabetes in children (25 per 100,000 a year) in Europe and the lowest number of children attaining good diabetes control. Diabetes UK is concerned that in many cases DKA occurs because type 1 diabetes is not diagnosed early enough.
