A video from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), USA.
Yes. Exercise is an important part of managing diabetes. It just needs some planning. Encourage and help your child or young person with diabetes to take part in physical activity.
Yes. Children and young people with type 1 diabetes can fully participate in PE classes and team sports at school.
It's important to have good communication between your whānau, your child, the healthcare team and your child's PE teacher or coach.
An insulin plan (written for your child) will help your child to have good control of their glucose levels during and after exercise. Anyone supervising your child will need training to recognise and treat low blood glucose levels. Your child should have easy access to blood glucose monitoring equipment and fast-acting carbohydrate food.
Usually, aerobic physical activity (such as walking, cycling, and general play) tends to lower blood glucose (BG) levels. Anaerobic physical activity (such as sprinting, hockey, or weightlifting) tends to increase blood glucose levels. Many forms of team and individual sports (such as rugby or netball) and playground activities are a mixture of aerobic and anaerobic activity
Children and young people with type 1 diabetes are at risk of having low blood glucose levels (hypoglycaemia). This may happen during and straight after exercise. Or, there may be a delay of several hours so that low blood glucose levels may happen during sleep.
Hypoglycaemia may happen for a number of reasons including:
Exercise can also cause high blood glucose levels (hyperglycaemia).
Hyperglycaemia may happen:
Your child can (and should) exercise while using a pump.
Talk to your healthcare provider for personal advice about pumps and exercise for your young person. There are many factors that will affect blood glucose levels, including:
In some sports like swimming, martial arts and some contact sports, pumps are usually removed for the safety of the pump. In most other sports, the pump and site can be secured and left on, so exercise can continue safely.
It is usually a good idea to set a temporary basal rate or temporary target 1 to 2 hours prior to exercise. This will help to prevent low blood glucose levels during exercise. You may need to continue this after exercise, depending on blood glucose levels. You can discuss this with your young person’s diabetes team for more information and advice.
The content on this page has been approved by the Clinical Network for Children and Young People with Diabetes, Paediatric Society of New Zealand.
Graphics are screenshots taken from a video from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), USA [2].
This page last reviewed 01 May 2023.
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Links
[1] https://kidshealth.org.nz/tags/diabetes
[2] https://vimeo.com/376832691
[3] https://kidshealth.org.nz/contact?from=http%3A%2F%2Fkidshealth.org.nz%2Fprint%2F2488%3Flanguage%3Dzh-hans