The risks of COVID-19 for children at the beginning of the pandemic were greatly underestimated, experts said.

According to them, children are infected more often than was thought, moreover, the disease can cause serious complications in them.

Reuters reported that during a conference of the American Diabetes Association, the physicians reported that in 2019, children with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes made up 0.27% of all patients, but from March to December 2020, this figure rose to 0. 62%. This means that the incidence has more than doubled.

Scientists also noticed that young patients hospitalized with diabetes during the pandemic had worse clinical indicators compared to other children in previous years: new hospital admissions had higher blood sugar levels and more frequent dehydration.

Similar data were presented by doctors at the Children's National Hospital in Washington: compared to 2019 during the pandemic, the increase in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes was 189%, and most of the children were in noticeably worse condition.

Most of these children did not have COVID-19, as shown by antibody testing and parental polls. According to experts, other important factors played a role: during the numerous restrictions, when many schools switched to distance learning, physical activity in children significantly decreased. This contributed to weight gain and obesity. In addition, due to difficulties with scheduled appointments, many parents may have delayed examinations for their children, so the symptoms of diabetes went unnoticed.