The incidence of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in Israeli children and adolescents 0-20 years of age: a retrospective study, 1975-1980.

A survey of the entire population of Israel revealed 392 newly diagnosed type I diabetic children and adolescents aged 0-20 for the period of 1975-80. The mean annual age specific incidence of type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus was 3.8/10(5) for the age group 0-14 yr and 4.2/10(5) for the age group 0-20 yr. The incidence among the Jews of Ashkenazi origin was 6.8 X 10(5) and that for Jews of non-Ashkenazi origin was 4.3 X 10(5), whereas that for the Arabs was 1.2 X 10(5). The overall incidence is lower than that reported for similar populations in most European countries, the USA, Canada, and New Zealand; similar to that reported for Arabs in Kuwait; and higher than only that found in Japan. The relative importance of environmental and genetic factors in the interpopulation differences in incidence of type I diabetes remains to be established.