Diabetes in Children and Adolescents

Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases in children and adolescents. Long-term epidemiological data have confirmed that the incidence of both main types of diabetes is increasing globally, which may lead to negative health and economic consequences. Despite significant advances in the knowledge on diabetes pathogenesis and the implementation of new technologies for its management, only a minority of children meet the criteria of optimal diabetes control, irrespective of age category, type of diabetes, and country of residence. Continuous effort for diabetes control improvement represents the most important challenge for pediatric diabetologists and members of diabetes-focused multidisciplinary teams today. This chapter aims to summarize the recent clinical and scientific advances in the etiology, pathogenesis, and management of diabetes in childhood and adolescence to increase the readers’ knowledge and understanding of this disease.