[Prevalence of insulin dependent diabetes mellitus in school children of the metropolitan area].

The prevalence of insulin dependent diabetes mellitus was determined in 1,078,109 students of 2,150 schools between 5 and 19 years of age. 147 diabetic females and 107 diabetic males were found, for a prevalence of 25/100,000 in females and 20/100,000 in males (p less than 0.01). Prevalence of diabetes among 3 age groups, 5-9, 10-14 and 15-19 years, was 17, 22 and 19 per 100,000 in males and 22, 32 and 28 per 100,000 in females, respectively. The higher prevalence in females was significant at all age levels. Overall prevalence according to age was 19, 27 and 24 per 100,000 in the corresponding age groups (significantly higher in the 10-14 year old age group, p less than 0.01).