A new study has reported that childhood diabetes is set to be an “accelerating epidemic” in Britain with diagnosis of the condition in children under five years-old doubling by 2020.

Environmental changes are believed to be the major factor in the rapid rise after the study reviewed trends in 17 countries around Europe. The changes include significant increases in Caesarean births, lack of exposure to infections early on in childhood and bottle feeding.

Type 1 diabetes is an immune system disorder whereby cells in the pancreas that produce insulin are destroyed. Without insulin, glucose is not taken up by the body and so diabetics require daily injections of the hormone to regulate blood sugar levels.

In this latest study, researchers looked at 20 European centres as of 2005 and identified 94,000 cases of children aged under 15 with type 1 diabetes. By analysing the rate of growth between 1989 and 2003, they estimate by 2020 that the number of cases will be 160,000 – a 70% growth. Growth among children under five years-old is expected to be higher, rising by 102%.

The study carried out by Queen’s University, Belfast could not find evidence to prove the increases but advanced hypothesis points toward a number of contributory factors such as a lack of exposure to infections during early childhood which have been associated with reducing the risk of diabetes. By sending your child to pre-school, they are more likely to pick up infections from other children which will boost their immune system. If this is not exercised early, there could be an adverse reaction to exposure later in life.

Children born by Caesarean may increase their risk of developing type 1 diabetes by 20% due to not collecting the microbes from the birth canal that help to develop the immune system. Bottle feeding your baby can lead to rapid weight gain which has been linked to developing diabetes.