The Incidence of Insulin-dependent Diabetes Mellitus in Israeli Children and Adolescents 0–20 Years of Age: A Retrospective Study, 1975–1980

Abstract

A survey of the entire population of Israel revealed 392 newly diagnosed type I diabetic children and adolescents aged 0–20 for the period of 1975–80. The mean annual age specific incidence of type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus was 3.8/105 for the age group 0–14 yr and 4.2/105 for the age group 0–20 yr. The incidence among the Jews of Ashkenazi origin was 6.8 × 105 and that for Jews of non-Ashkenazi origin was 4.3 × 105, whereas that for the Arabs was 1.2 × 105. The overall incidence is lower than that reported for similar populations in most European countries, the USA, Canada, and New Zealand; similar to that reported for Arabs in Kuwait; and higher than only that found in Japan. The relative importance of environmental and genetic factors in the interpopulation differences in incidence of type I diabetes remains to be established.