Racial and ethnic differences among children with new‐onset autoimmune Type 1 diabetes

Aim To compare demographic and clinical characteristics among children from ethnic minorities and non‐Hispanic white children with new‐onset autoimmune Type 1 diabetes. Methods We analysed a single‐centre series of 712 children with new‐onset autoimmune Type 1 diabetes between January 2008 and March 2011. The median (range) age was 9.7 (0.3–18.1) years, the mean (sd) BMI percentile was 69.7 (25.4) and 48.3% of the cohort were girls. The cohort comprised 57.3% non‐Hispanic white, 20.5% Hispanic and 14.8% African‐American children, and 7.4% were of other, mixed or unknown race. Results The Hispanic subgroup, compared with non‐Hispanic white subgroup, had a higher mean (sd) C‐peptide level [0.82 (1.62) vs 0.55 (0.47) ng/ml; P=0.004), and a greater proportion of children with elevated BMI (overweight or obesity; 49.6% vs 32.5%; P