Find out how children with type 1 diabetes can exercise safely [1]
Regular physical activity is important and benefits people of all ages. It includes anything that gets your child or young person moving. This could be walking to school, running around the house or playground at school, chasing the dog, organised sports, or even helping with housework! It is not necessary to join a gym or buy expensive equipment at home.
Physical activity helps to:
It is important to encourage children and young people with diabetes to be active as part of their daily routine. This includes at home, at school and at play. Physical activity should involve the whole whānau for both support and overall health benefits.
Check out the KidsHealth page on the importance of being active in the early years [2]
If your child is using insulin therapy, your local diabetes team will discuss this with you. They can give advice on all aspects of balancing blood glucose control, insulin dosage, carbohydrate intake and physical activity, in relation to low blood glucose levels. The care plan for certain types of physical activities may be different, and your child will be given personal guidelines regarding exercise.
Every activity counts!
Check out the Tinana Ora Mо̄ Ngā Tamariki | Physical Wellbeing for Children resource [3], which helps you and your whānau to track your good habits. It has great ideas on healthy habits you and your whānau can adopt.
Take a look at the New Zealand Spot | Ihi Aotearoa website for more ideas and advice [4]on helping your young person to be active.
The content on this page has been approved by the Clinical Network for Children and Young People with Diabetes, Paediatric Society of New Zealand.
This page last reviewed 15 May 2023.
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Links
[1] https://kidshealth.org.nz/how-children-type-1-diabetes-can-exercise-safely
[2] https://kidshealth.org.nz/importance-being-active-early-years
[3] https://www.waikatodhb.health.nz/assets/Docs/Your-Health/Bodywise/Tinana-Ora-Mo-Nga-Tamariki.pdf
[4] https://sportnz.org.nz/parents-and-caregivers/parents-and-caregivers/
[5] https://kidshealth.org.nz/tags/diabetes
[6] https://kidshealth.org.nz/contact?from=http%3A%2F%2Fkidshealth.org.nz%2Fprint%2F2105%3Flanguage%3Den