Childhood diabetes increase daily: study

Two new cases of childhood Type 1 diabetes are diagnosed in Australia daily as researchers battle to unlock links between environmental factors and the disease.

Between 2000 and 2006, more than 6,000 new cases of Type 1 diabetes were diagnosed in children aged up to 14, according to an Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report.

The rate of Type 1 diabetes in children is climbing at a rate of three per cent a year.

Katherine Faulks, of the AIHW's diabetes unit, said the incidence of the disease had grown from 19 children per 100,000 children in 2000 to 23 per 100,000 in 2006.

There were almost 9,000 new cases in people aged 15 or over, with males almost twice as likely than females to develop the disease.

"Despite popular perception, Type 1 diabetes does not only develop in childhood - it can arise at any age," Ms Faulks said.

Tasmania had the highest incidence of Type 1 diabetes among children aged 14 and under between 2000-06, with 28.9 new cases per 100,000 people.

This was much higher than the rate in NSW (20.6), Victoria (23.5), Queensland (23), Western Australia 21.9 and the Northern Territory (10.3).

Australia has the sixth-highest incidence of the disease for people aged up to 14, while Finland, Sweden and Norway have the highest, according to the latest Diabetes Atlas published by the International Diabetes Federation.

In most cases, diabetes is caused by autoimmune destruction of the cells in the pancreas which produce insulin, which the body uses to take up glucose from the blood as an energy source.

Diabetes Australia president Gary Deed said researchers trying to determine the cause of the disease were investigating the interplay between genetics and environmental factors, such as autoimmune diseases, consumption of cows milk at a young age and vitamin D deficiency.

"The immune system is obviously involved and the immune system's interaction with our genetic code," Dr Deed told AAP.

"There obviously therefore must be some environmental factors driving this increase because on average the blend of Australians and the genetic type of Australians hasn't changed dramatically over the last five years."

Dr Deed said people who had autoimmune conditions such as celiac disease, thyroid diseases and rheumatoid arthritis were more susceptible to having Type 1 diabetes.

"Certain viruses in a susceptible individual may cause the eruption of autoimmunity to the pancreas and thus causing Type 1 diabetes," he said.

Researchers were investigating whether there was a link between Coxfackie viruses, which can cause cold-like symptoms, and Diabetes 1.

"Early dietary exposure to forms of cows milk have been also studied and that research is ongoing," Dr Deed said.

Dr Deed said to decrease their child's risk of having Type 1 diabetes, mothers should ensure they have enough Vitamin D during pregnancy and breastfeed.

He said all children should also be immunised against mumps and rubella and if a child's family had a history of autoimmune diseases, his or her parents should inform their GP.