Obese three-year old girl in US diagnosed with diabetes

However she tested negative for antibodies that could signal type 1 diabetes.

"Based on symptoms, physical findings of obesity and laboratory results the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes was made," said Michael Yafi from University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

The girl was started on a liquid version of the diabetes drug metformin (500 mg daily). Diabetes and nutritional education were given to her parents, and the medical team asked the family to implement lifestyle modification by controlling their food portions and total calorie intake, and increasing the child's physical activity.

The girl then lost weight that led to normalisation of blood glucose levels. The metformin therapy was decreased by 50 per cent each month, and then stopped.

Six months after diagnosis, the girl was at 75 per cent of the weight she had been when she presented for treatment, had normal blood glucose levels, an HbA1c of 5.3 per cent and had stopped metformin therapy.

"Reversal of type 2 diabetes in children is possible by early screening of obese children, early diagnosis, appropriate therapy and lifestyle modification," Yafi said.

"Clinicians should be aware of the possibility of type 2 diabetes even in very young obese children, although of course type 1 diabetes can also still occur in obese children and is in fact much more common in young children than type 2 diabetes," he said.

The case was presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Stockholm.