HJAR Jul/Aug 2025

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  JUL / AUG 2025 15 32 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2024). National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved May 16, 2025, from https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/reports/rpt53159/2023-nsduh-pop- slides-female.pdf. 33 Daly, M. (2022). Prevalence of depression among adolescents in the U.S. from 2009 to 2019: Analysis of trends by sex, race/ethnicity, and income. Journal of Adolescent Health, 70(3), 445–452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.08.026. 34 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024). Youth risk behavior survey data summary & trends report: 2013–2023. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved May 16, 2025. 35 Curtin, S. C., & Garnett, M. F. (2023). Suicide and homicide death rates among youth and young adults aged 10–24: United States, 2001–2021. NCHS Data Brief, 471. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. https://dx.doi.org/10.15620/cdc: 128423. 36 Maternal and Child Health Bureau. (2023). Adolescent mental and behavioral health data brief [PDF]. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved May 16, 2025, from https://mchb.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/mchb/data-research/nsch-data-brief-adolescent-mental- behavioral-health-2023.pdf. 37 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023, February 13). U.S. teen girls experiencing increased sadness and violence. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2023/p0213-yrbs.html. 38 Zablotsky, B., Black, L. I., & Akinbami, L. J. (2023). Diagnosed allergic conditions in children aged 0–17 years: United States, 2021. NCHS Data Brief, No. 459. National Center for Health Statistics. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db459.htm. 39 National Center for Health Statistics. (2019). National Health Interview Survey (NHIS): Family core and sample child questionnaires. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ • Around 70% of youth with obesity already have at least one risk factor for heart disease. 14 Diabetes is Increasing among American Youth • In the 1980s, there were very few cases of type 2 diabetes in children, and incidence rates for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes have consistently increased the past 2 decades. 15 16 • Today, over 350,000 children have been diagnosed with diabetes (3.5 per 1,000). 1718 One study estimated a 65% increase in type 1 diabetes and a more than 600% increase in type 2 diabetes by 2060 if current trends continue. 19 • Prevalence of pre-diabetes (elevated blood sugar levels but not high enough to be clas- sified as diabetes) in teens is more than one in four teens, having more than doubled over the last 2 decades. 20 21 HJAR requested state-level data on childhood Type 2 diabetes from the Arkansas Department of Health in early June. As of press time, no data had been provided, though efforts were reportedly underway. The American Diabetes Association responded that youth data is “very limited” and referred us to the CDC. However, the CDC does not publish state-level statistics on pediatric diabetes or prediabetes. This data gap is particularly concerning given Arkansas’s high adult diabetes mortality rate—second highest in the nation at 36 deaths per 100,000 residents, according to the CDC. Childhood obesity, a major driver of Type 2 diabetes and prediabetes, remains a serious issue in the state. This raises urgent questions: How can policymakers address a crisis they can’t clearly see? And what does it say about the system when a national nonprofit can’t offer clearer guidance on a condition it was founded to fight?