THE LITTLE EMPEROR

(SYNDROME ) COMES OF AGE

In the sixties, as a scrawny Primary One schoolboy, I was specially "hauled up"  before  the  medical  doctor  who came by the school. I  vividly  remember  being told  "You  must  take  more  ikan  bilis  (anchovies)  and milk"  by  the  kind-looking physician.

Yes, a  number  of  us in  the featherweight category were singled out to receive milk supplement (to the envy of the rest of the class)

Fast forward 40 years later, the school medical officer would now face a different and bigger (pun intended) task at hand. As a small kid then, I thought nothing of walking the four to five kilometres to school to save on bus fare. That would be considered "very, very far" in today's automotive age.

It comes as no surprise that the prevalence of type II diabetes mellitus in children is on the rise. "Adult-onset diabetes is a misnomer and no longer the exclusive province of adults. Asia has not caught up with Europe and, in particular, the USA, yet in the overweight department. But the 'Western Civilisation" lead is tenuous at best. Time Inc. (2003) reported that up to 10% of China's 290 million children are believed to be overnourished and overweight (the little emperor syndrome) and this is expected to double in a decade.

Is Singapore any different? Read what our paediatric endocrinologists have written in this issue. Find out also about the activities of the support groups from Touch Diabetes and DSG. Robert Lusig, a University of California Paediatric Endocrinologist, remarked that (global) childhood obesity is a true health crisis (far) greater than SARS or AIDS. The "Little Emperor" has indeed come of age.
 

Dr Yeo Kim Teck
Managing Editor, DMLife

Senior Consultant
Singapore National Eye Centre