The incidence of type 1 diabetes among teenagers in Puerto Rico more than doubled from 2009 to 2021 and remained elevated through 2024, with an average annual increase of 4.1 percent, according to a study being presented on June 14 at ENDO 2026, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Chicago.
The study highlights a growing health concern as type 1 diabetes becomes more common among Hispanic and Latino adolescents in Puerto Rico. The findings suggest there is a need to better understand the factors driving this trend.
Natalia Vázquez Colón, M.S., of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics in San Juan and lead author of the study, said studying Puerto Rico separately provides valuable insight into health trends that may not be visible in national data because Hispanic and Latino individuals make up a large and growing share of the U.S. population.
Researchers conducted a population-based observational study focusing on adolescents aged 15 to 19 years in Puerto Rico between 2009 and 2024. The data set included information on 3,156 pediatric cases aged zero to twenty-one years during this period. Of those studied, researchers identified 612 newly diagnosed cases of type 1 diabetes. Annual incidence rates were calculated using U.S. Census population estimates and expressed per 100,000 people.
Between 2009 and 2024, annual type 1 diabetes incidence rates among adolescents aged 15 to 19 increased from 10.1 per 100,000 in 2009 to a peak of 24.1 per 100,000 in 2021. Rates remained elevated through 2024 at 18.3 per 100,000.
