Obese nine-year-olds are getting diabetes

London children as young as nine are being diagnosed with an adult form of diabetes, researchers said today.

The number of under-16s now developing Type 2 diabetes, which is caused by obesity, has rocketed to "shocking" levels, doctors told a conference.

They warned that the issue is a "timebomb waiting to explode", and said it threatens to overwhelm NHS services.

The researchers believe that a suggestion there are only 100 cases of the disease in children in Britain is a "vast underestimate" and say the true figure is more likely to be several hundred.

A study being presented at the Diabetes UK Annual Professional Conference shows that 22 children have Type 2 diabetes in east London alone.

Matt Hunt, science information manager at Diabetes UK, a self-help charity for sufferers, said: "Previously this was a disease of old age, so to see it in children is quite disturbing. If this trend continues we are looking at a generation who will be buried by their parents."

He said Type 2 diabetes in adults is thought to cut at least 10 years from life expectancy but the reduction will be greater the earlier the disease develops.

Douglas Smallwood, chief executive at Diabetes UK, said: "These cases confirm a shocking trend. Unless children are educated to eat a healthy diet and take physical activity, the number with the condition will continue to rise.

"If this problem is getting worse, the NHS has to ensure resources are in place to deal with it."

Dr Jeremy Allgrove, a consultant at the east London centre for paediatric and adolescent diabetes, said: "Ten years ago we did not see Type 2 diabetes in children under 16 but it is now increasingly becoming a part of paediatric practice. In addition to these children, there is another group who have insulin resistance and are obese who are at risk of developing diabetes. This is a timebomb waiting to explode."

All but one of the children in the study, conducted at Bart's and the London and Newham University Hospitals Trusts, come from a black or minority group, who are five times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes.

The other form of diabetes, Type 1, is present soon after birth and not linked to weight. There are thought to be 1.5 million adults in Britain with Type 2 diabetes.