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Death rates for black children with diabetes were twice as high as for white children during a 25- year period, possibly because of gaps in medical care and information, U.S. officials said.

Black youths living in poor areas may have limited access to medical services and lack quality disease education and health care, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today. About 125,000 American children have diabetes.

The Atlanta-based agency collected and analyzed data from 1979 to 2004 that included youngsters ages 1 to 19. They found that while diabetes is more common among white children, the death rate is higher among blacks. Diabetes deaths in children are likely to be from preventable complications that go untreated, Larry Deeb, a pediatric endocrinologist, said in a telephone interview today.

“We’ve developed a system of health care where some people are excluded,” said Deeb, who practices in Tallahassee, Florida. “It’s a broken health-care system.” Further research is needed to determine the cause of higher diabetes death rates among black youths, researchers said. Other racial and ethnic groups were excluded because the numbers of deaths were too small to obtain reliable estimates, they said.

Diabetes Expenses Medical expenses from diabetes total $132 billion each year, according to the National Institutes of Health. Type 2 diabetes, which prevents cells from properly converting blood sugar into energy, has become more prevalent worldwide because of overeating and lack of exercise. The disease can lead to blindness, kidney failure or death, if left untreated.

“Incidence of type 2 diabetes is increasing,” the CDC said. “With proper management and access to care, morbidity and mortality from diabetes is preventable, particularly in the pediatric population.” In type 1 diabetes, the body doesn’t produce the hormone insulin, which is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy. In those with type 2, the most common form of the disease, the body can’t produce enough insulin or use the insulin it makes.

Type 2 diabetes occurs mainly in adults 45 and older who are overweight. Patients at risk for type 2 diabetes can lower their risk of developing the disease by losing 5 to 7 percent of their weight, the National Institutes of Health says. This type was called adult-onset diabetes until it became more common among children carrying extra weight.

In June, researchers at Harvard University in Boston reported that the number of American children with chronic illnesses quadrupled since their parents were kids, with obesity partly driving the increase.

“Education of health professionals who care for youths, especially black youths, and improved public awareness of increasing diabetes incidence, particularly among minority racial/ethnic groups, might improve identification of diabetes in black and other minority children and adolescents,” the CDC said in the report.