A study of the prevalence of juvenile diabetes mellitus was performed and 105 juvenile diabetics were detected among Israeli Jews in 1963. A check against hospital records indicated that the ascertainment was close to complete.
The prevalence of juvenile diabetes mellitus was estimated at about 1:6,000 at ages two to sixteen years. Among offspring of fathers born in Europe, America or Israel the prevalence was higher (0.24 per thousand) than among offspring of fathers born in Asia and Africa (0.09 per thousand).
The incidence among young children appears to be higher in recent years than in previous years.
Among 210 parents, five were reported to be diabetic, a frequency no greater than that of the general population. No diabetic sibling was reported in 1963 among 201 living siblings aged two to thirty-three years.
