Diabetes in children: All you need to know

Growing up, most of us understood diabetes to be a disease that affects the elderly. As adults, we now know that the disease also affects children. Experts attribute the rise of diabetes to increased obesity rates among children.

You are what you eat

Most children consume junk and fast food simply because it’s the only option on offer. That’s because parents find it easier and quicker to order ready-made meals rather than spend time cooking home-made meals. Fast food is often loaded with hidden sugar, salt, and fat, making takeaway food very unhealthy. Adding to the problem is that fewer children participate in extramural sporting activities or even “physically” play at home since the invention of gaming consoles, smartphones, and computers. Poor eating habits, combined with a lack of exercise, have increased the risk of developing diseases such as diabetes.

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a disease that occurs when your blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is too high. Blood glucose is your main source of energy and comes from the food you eat. There are three different types of diabetes that you can develop – Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, and Gestational diabetes. Diabetes is not a life sentence and can be managed. 

Type 1 Diabetes: If you have seen someone living with diabetes injecting themselves or their child with insulin, it means they have Type 1 diabetes. They inject themselves with insulin every day, and they need to have an exercise regime plus a strict diet in place.  Type 1 diabetes develops when your pancreas stops creating insulin and commonly happens in young individuals and under 30. It can also occur in extremely young children. The onset is not only swift but frightening and is commonly believed to be the result of the body attacking and destroying its own cells.

Type 2 Diabetes: 85 to 90% of all individuals with diabetes have Type 2, and although most sufferers are over the age of 40, young people are also developing this condition. The risk is exacerbated by lifestyle factors such as high blood pressure, being obese, not exercising enough, and incorrect eating. Losing weight often reduces the levels of glucose, and medication can also assist.

Gestational Diabetes: This type of diabetes is a temporary condition that occurs during pregnancy and disappears after the baby’s birth. Thereafter, both mother and child are inclined to contract diabetes in the future.

What health problems can people with diabetes develop?

Without treatment, diabetes can lead to problems such as:

• Heart disease
• Stroke
• Kidney disease
• Eye problems
• Dental disease
• Nerve damage
• Foot problems

Diabetes and Covid-19

Diabetes has been identified as comorbidity, meaning that if anyone living with diabetes contracts Covid-19, the symptoms are likely to be harsher than in a healthy and fit person. According to the Paediatric & Adolescent Endocrinology & Diabetes Society – South Africa (Pead-SA), it is unclear whether children have the same risk factors as adults for serious illness.

“Reports suggest that children with type 1 diabetes do not contract the coronavirus more frequently than other children and do not have more severe forms of COVID-19 than other children. No-one under age 25 with type 1 diabetes landed up in the hospital or with severe disease (needing ICU) in China and Italy. In South Africa, we are starting to see a few children with COVID-19, and the pattern does not seem to have changed from the rest of the world. Therefore, children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes should not be treated any differently from other children in terms of going back to school.”

Take care

If your child is living with diabetes, Pead-SA recommends the following:

• Better control means better health, particularly in winter, when everyone gets sick.
• Children with type 1 diabetes should have the flu vaccine.
• Any illness will affect glucose control, which then needs extra attention.
• If children are ill, they or their caregivers should not delay contacting their healthcare provider because they are afraid of Covid-19.