Juvenile diabetes, or type 1 diabetes, is a condition in which a child's pancreas does not produce the hormone insulin. This hormone is essential for converting sugar, starches and other food into energy. Of all the patients with diabetes, only 5 percent have type 1 diabetes, which is typically diagnosed in childhood or young adulthood. While insulin therapy is a common treatment for juvenile diabetes, lifestyle interventions, such as exercise, can improve the condition.
Benefits of Exercise
During exercise, your body works harder and needs more glucose to produce energy. As a result, exercise helps to reduce blood sugar levels and keep them within a healthy range. Exercise also improves how your body uses insulin, so insulin needs are reduced. By helping to regulate blood glucose and insulin levels for children with diabetes, exercise also reduces diabetes-related complications, such as nerve damage that can lead to amputation, or vision, kidney or heart problems. Exercise also helps to control a child's weight; being overweight or obese makes diabetes worse.
Amount and Type of Exercise
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that children between ages 6 and 17 exercise for at least one hour a day. Although a child has diabetes, he can participate in a wide range of exercises or activities, such as biking, skating, skiing, track and field, trampoline, football, karate, swimming or soccer. However, the child will need to take a few precautions to ensure that he does not become hypoglycemic, or develop low blood sugar, during exercise.
Precautions
If possible, the child should exercise at the same time every day. He should wear comfortable shoes to protect his feet, which are more susceptible to injury as a result of having diabetes. The child should always monitor his blood glucose levels before and after exercise. He should take a fast-digesting carbohydrate snack, such as a half cup of fruit juice or 15 jellybeans, in case he becomes hypoglycemic and drink non-sugary beverages before, during and after physical activity. Wearing a diabetes I.D. bracelet is also a good idea in case of an emergency. The child's doctor can provide more information on precautions to take to participate in exercise safely.
Monitoring Blood Glucose and Exercise
Exercising with moderately high blood sugar levels is not typically dangerous, according to Gary Scheiner, an exercise physiologist, in an article in the December 2005 issue of "Living with Diabetes," a newsletter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Federation International. Scheiner adds that adrenaline can elevate blood sugar levels during short bouts of high-intensity exercise. However, if blood sugar levels are higher than 250 milligrams per deciliter, or mg/dL, before physical activity, there may not be enough insulin in the child's body for him to exercise safely. Scheiner recommends testing for ketones in the blood. If the test is negative, the child can exercise, but if it is positive, he should postpone exercise until he receives insulin therapy and blood glucose levels drop.
References
- American Diabetes Association: Diabetes Basics, Type 1
- Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International: Exercise, Sports & Diabetes, Going for Goal
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: How Much Physical Activity Do Children Need?
- MedlinePlus: Type 1 Diabetes
- Krames Online: For Kids, What to Do About Low Blood Sugar
