World Diabetes Day 2022: Easy And Essential Tips to Manage Diabetes in Children

Type 2 diabetes is a growing problem for our youth in India. Although known to be an adult disease, it is now becoming more prevalent in children aged 10 to 18 years old.

World Diabetes Day is marked every year on November 14 to highlight the complications of the chronic disease. The day was proposed by the International Diabetes Federation in 1991 with support from the World Health Organization and became an official United Nations Day in 2006.

Type 2 diabetes is a growing problem for our youth in India. Although known to be an adult disease, it is now becoming more prevalent in children aged 10 to 18 years old. However, it is preventable and reversible if it is treated appropriately. Over the past two decades, it is observed that more children between ages 11 – 15 years are being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Puberty puts younger children at higher risk because they’re going through a growth spurt, which increases hunger all the time and causes regular weight gain during this period, besides this, they undergo hormonal changes, which can make their bodies more resistant to insulin.

There are certain warning signs such as abnormal weight gain and Body Mass Index (BMI) above 85 percentile which indicates they’re at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. On the other side, unexpected weight loss is also a concern as it is a sign of insufficient insulin which means the body is burning fat to get energy. Dr Rakesh Kumar Prasad, Senior Consultant, Endocrinologist, Fortis Hospital Noida suggested few tips to manage diabetes in children.

Tips To Manage Diabetes in Children

1.  Prevention of diabetes requires a lot of discipline in eating habits and exercise.
2. Eating healthy and exercising are key to reversing or preventing Type 2 diabetes altogether.
3. Eating plenty of vegetables, while reducing the potion size of carbohydrates.
4. Exercising at least an hour or practicing any sport regularly for an hour a day will help in reversing diabetes
5. During and in the post-pandemic era, we have witnessed an increase in screen time of all children which has been one of the main factors for the increase in prevalence of diabetes in children. Thus, it is very important to limit their screen time

Things that can change and reverse diabetes in children are:

1. Maintaining an ideal body weight
2. Eating healthy, lots of green leafy vegetables, fruits and it is also important that while having meals TV / other electronic gadgets with screens should be switched off
3. Avoiding sugar in any form including sugary beverages
4. Having regular exercise for at least an hour
5. Limiting their screen time
6. Having 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep