Improved standards of living and hygiene may be contributing to the rising rate of type 1 diabetes.
Researchers from the Washington State Department of Health trying to explain the continuous rise in incidents of type 1 diabetes studied records of children younger than 19 years hospitalizedfor type 1 diabetes in Washington State.
The researchers found that consistent with the hygiene hypothesis, type 1diabetes was negatively associated with having older siblingsand with indicators of lower economic statusor care access, such as an unmarried mother, inadequate prenatal care,or Medicaid insurance.
The researchers also found that maternal obesity was associated with increasedrisk of diabetes.
The study was published in the August issue of Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.
