‘You can always make a change’: 15-Year-Old Johns Hopkins Patient with Type 2 Diabetes Thrives Almost 2 Years After Diagnosis

Ellicott City teenager Hakeem Shonubi was always on the move — an active kid who played football and other extracurricular activities. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, closing school and canceling plans, leaving Hakeem and the rest of the world at home in lockdown.

Months passed, and Hakeem began to gain weight as the pandemic continued. During a routine checkup in January 2021, doctors became concerned, and noticed a significant change in his medical history: high blood sugars, which resulted in a trip to the emergency room. He stayed two days at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, where he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Hakeem is not alone.

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month. Youth onset type 2 diabetes is rising worldwide, and a recent study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, documented a steep rise in new diagnoses of type 2 diabetes among children during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now 15 years old, Hakeem manages his type 2 diabetes with routine visits at the Children’s Center and healthier lifestyle choices: more vegetables and less junk food, visits to the gym and participation in school football and wrestling. With hard work and dedication, he has lost more than 20 pounds. He believes he can beat his diabetes diagnosis, and based on recent blood sugar tests, he is almost there. He encourages others in a similar situation that it is not too late to change your habits.

“Don’t give up, you can always a make a change,” said Hakeem.

Hakeem, his mother and pediatric endocrinologist Risa Wolf, M.D., are available for media interviews.