Children Lose An Hour A Day To Diabetes

Filed in archive Family Matters on September 29, 2006

Having diabetes as a child is difficult. Along with often painful treatment, there is often a sense of deprivation and "not being like the other kids." A new study has found that children may lose up to an hour a day because of their diabetes.

Diabetic children spend up to an hour a day managing their condition, adversely affecting their attitudes towards treatment, new Australian research shows.

A study by University of Adelaide researchers tracked 160 children with chronic illnesses over two years to find out how much time it takes to do their daily treatment tasks.

The results, published in the latest Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, show children with cystic fibrosis, an incurable genetic disease, spend 57-74 minutes a day on treatments like physiotherapy.

Therapies for type one diabetes - including daily glucose testing, insulin injections and dietary changes - took 28-58 minutes out of each child's day.

Do you have any ideas on how to improve these numbers? Or is it a necessary 'evil?'