Low blood sugar a risk for active diabetic kids
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Children with type 1 diabetes are more likely to have an overnight drop in blood sugar on days when they get exercise, according to a new study.
In an experiment that monitored diabetic children’s nighttime blood sugar on sedentary and active days, researchers found that the risk of hypoglycemia—abnormally low blood sugar—was greater on exercise days.
Overall, 42 percent of the 11- to 17-year-olds had overnight hypoglycemia after exercising in the late afternoon, versus 16 percent on the exercise-free days.
The findings point to the importance of adjusting kids’ diabetes regimen on active days, the study authors report in the Journal of Pediatrics.
“Exercise is good for them,” said study co-author Dr. Roy Beck, director of the Jaeb Center for Health Research in Tampa, Florida. Besides the general health benefits, he noted in an interview, exercise can help keep blood sugar from rising too high.
But the risk of a delayed nighttime drop in blood sugar means that parents should speak with their children’s doctors about how to adjust insulin doses and evening snacks to meet the demands of a particularly active day, according to Beck.
A “rigid” approach to managing diabetes doesn’t work, he said.
The study included 50 adolescents who were observed in a clinic on two separate days—one where they remained inactive and one where they exercised on a treadmill late in the afternoon. Nearly all had some dip in blood sugar during exercise, while 42 percent had an overnight episode of hypoglycemia.
Some kids in this latter group, though, had nighttime hypoglycemia on the sedentary day as well—with the risk being greater among those who were active in their daily lives.
A possible explanation, the researchers note, is that regular exercise had made their bodies more responsive to insulin.
SOURCE: Journal of Pediatrics, October 2005.
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