Type 1 Diabetes Testing And Healthy Living May Help Kids Maintain Weight

It has long been known that obesity and type 1 diabetes go together hand in hand, but a new study conducted by Austrian researchers has brought the topic back into sharp focus. They looked closely at children and adolescents with the disease to determine which specific factors contribute towards their weight gain. What they found may be of particular interest to parents.

It seems that the child’s gender, age of onset, and type of insulin used in his or her treatment may impact weight management. In general, prepubescent females using short-acting insulin medications were more apt to struggle with weight management issues than post-pubescent ones on long-acting insulin.

For boys, the risk for developing weight management problems was greatest for those who were put on long-acting insulin. So parents of young children at risk for developing the disease may want to speak with their primary healthcare provider now about which alternate treatments may be available or how best to counteract the medication’s side effect.

As a result of the new study, healthcare professionals are also encouraging parents with diabetic children to ensure that the family eats healthy, adheres to a type 1 diabetes testing schedule and engages in routine, physical activity. Thankfully, there are a lot of different resources available about those topics for parents.

One of them is Parenting Diabetic Kids. In addition to menu planning assistance, it offers moms and dads a chance to participate in supportive forums. The site is also affiliated with SLAMDiabetes, which helps encourage diabetic children to get involved in sports like baseball, softball and wiffle© ball.

Another resource parents may want to consider grabbing onto is the American Diabetes Associations’Everyday Wisdom Kit. It’s complimentary and includes quite a bit of helpful materials for the kids. The materials include, but are not limited to games, guides, tools and a diabetes dictionary.

At Advanced Diabetes Supply, we too have resources for parents, including access to affordable, type 1 diabetes testing supplies. To learn more about them, please contact us toll-free at (866) 422-4866 FREE.