How to Reduce Children’s Risk of Diabetes

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We’ve all seen the scary reports about the state of healthcare in this country. Clearly we have one of the worst systems in the world, and it leaves millions of families susceptible to devastating physical, emotional and financial traumas. But while we would all like to raise hell about this situation, the only thing we can really do to make sure our families don’t fall prey is to focus on prevention. The Centers for Disease Control have released several studies in recent years asking parents to turn their attention to the rising rates of Type II diabetes in our children. It’s an incredibly scary situation. What once was a disease you only saw in the middle-aged or older is now plaguing kids in elementary school. What’s to blame for this development? Part of it is certainly genetics, and if you have a history of diabetes in your family there’s really nothing you can do about it except monitor the situation. But many of the factors that tip the genetic scales are environmental, meaning it is up to us to keep our kids away from the troubling behaviors that lead to this chronic disease. Here are a few pointers to help reduce your children’s risk of diabetes.

First off, you have to understand the risk factors. Genetic history obviously tops the list. If your background is Asian, Hispanic, American Indian or African you are at a greater risk. Another issue is if your child has a body mass index over the 85th percentile for his age group. An early onset of puberty is also a risk factor. If your child has more than one of these you should set up regular diabetes screenings with your pediatrician, at least once every two years to keep tabs on the situation.

Now that you have the background in mind you’ve got to keep an eye on any of the symptoms of diabetes. And you’ll always see some or all of these if diabetes is a factor. If your child is always thirsty regardless of how much he drinks that could be a warning sign. If he is constantly going to the bathroom because of all of this drinking, or even has some nighttime accidents long after he’s been potty trained, diabetes could be behind it. Also keep an eye out for significant and fast weight loss that you cannot explain, increased irritability or other personality changes, and itchy, numb or tingling skin.
If you see any of the warning signs and catch diabetes early you may be able to reverse the problem before it becomes a long-term issue.

So what can you do to avoid any of these situations coming to pass? Well, the first area you must address is your child’s overall health. Childhood obesity has been on the rise for quite some time, and is now considered an actual epidemic. You’ve got to support your kids to maintain an active lifestyle. Always encourage them to get involved with sports and other after-school programs, and make sure they spend a portion of every day playing outside, even if you have to force it on them. You’ll probably have to impose some sort of limit on television, computer and video game time, but that’s not the worst thing in the world for all sorts of reasons. Keep an eye out for exercise video games that are also fun, as they can help you sneak more physical activity into your child’s life.

Finally, don’t forget the importance of proper nutrition. One of the core reasons diabetes develops is from an overabundance of sugar in the system, to the extent that the cells can no longer process it. This doesn’t happen overnight, but after years of poor food choices. Kids are always going to pick the sweet or salty snack food if left to their own devices, primarily because the food industry spends billions of dollars a year promoting those things. So make sure that fruits and vegetables are the cornerstone of each meal. It’s going to take quite a while for your kids to get into this stuff, and the earlier you get them started the better. But balanced meals will be lower in calories and higher in nutrition, which may stave off obesity and insure your kids never have to experience life with a blood sugar tester.