According to the national HBSC study in 2022, 0,7% of adolescents aged 14 to 15 indicated that they had diabetes (type 1 or 2).
This indicator is part of the Monitoring System Addiction and NCD (MonAM) of the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH).
Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease; there are two different types. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that often appears during childhood or adolescence. Type 2 diabetes is the body’s inability to properly use the insulin it produces. This type of diabetes – which could be avoided in many cases – is closely related to lifestyle and can occur in people who are obese or who have insufficient physical activity. A permanently high level of blood sugar can lead to cardiovascular diseases or in some cases to an early death.
In Switzerland, children and adolescents are rarely affected by diabetes.
This indicator is based on the Swiss schoolchildren survey "Health Behaviour in School-aged Children" (HBSC), which surveys 11- to 15-year-old adolescents (n2022 = 9345).
This indicator shows the share of 14- and 15-year-olds who reported that they had been diagnosed by a doctor with type 1 or 2 diabetes. It is based on the question: “Have you received any of the following diagnoses from a doctor?”. The following diseases were mentioned: physical disability / asthma / type 1 or 2 diabetes / hay fever / attention deficiency disorder with and without hyperactivity (ADHS or ADS) / myopia / coeliac disease / eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia, binge eating). The answer categories per illness were 'yes / no'. 14 to 15 year-olds were asked this question. The information is based on the assessment made by the adolescents themselves.
Comparable data are available for the 2018 and 2022 surveys. Due to the small number of cases and the associated large statistical uncertainty, data from 2018 are not described.
Federal Office of Public Health FOPH
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