Not too long ago, many of us didn’t know anyone who had diabetes. Now, it’s almost impossible not to know someone who has it. Diabetes, particularly type 2 diabetes, has exploded and continues to do so in the western world. A disease once rarely seen in children, type 2 diabetes is now affecting them in large numbers, grossly affecting their health as adults.
According to the American Diabetes Association:

24 million children and adults in the United States live with diabetes
57 million Americans are at risk for type 2 diabetes
1 out of every 3 children born today will face a future with …read more

Type 2 diabetes is on the rise. It’s one of the diseases afflicting humans that is often preventable. Preventable because lifestyle plays a large role in the development of type 2 diabetes.
Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is different from type 2 – it’s caused by the pancreas’ inability to produce insulin. On the other hand, in type 2 diabetes, the pancreas does produce insulin but either not enough or the body can’t properly use the insulin that’s being produced.
It used to be that type 1 diabetes was called juvenile diabetes and then the name changed to insulin-dependent diabetes. Originally, it …read more

Raynor Country Day School in Long Island, New York, USA has settled on a law suit and is now admitting diabetic students.
The Raynor School allegedly denied requests to permit children with diabetes to attend the camp and denied requests for the school to supervise the children in daily monitoring of their diabetes, including personal testing by the children of blood glucose levels and administering insulin to themselves using a personal insulin pump.
Craziness! I honestly can not believe that a school in this day and age would attempt to deny admission based …read more

Knowing if an obese child might develop diabetes in later years could prompt parents to make the necessary lifestyle changes for their child to lose weight. That’s the rationale behind a pre-diabetes screening recommended by the American Diabetes Association.
This comes from Kids Health Notes. Grace has some really good info on her site about diabetes and children. Go check her out and search the site all you want. Yet another resource available to you!
Would you screen your child if they fell into this category? Do you think it would do the child good or cause issues down the road? I …read more

“You feed your kids rubbish – that’s what most people think. It’s ignorance and it’s understandable, but it’s quite hurtful. Having Type-1 diabetes has got nothing to do with diet. We don’t have a family history of diabetes – there’s no rhyme or reason why he got it.”
That is right out of the mouth of a mommy that has dealt with diabetes first hand. Little Ivan Bentley was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was 5 years old. Obviously we all want what’s best for our children and will fight any battle we have to to make that …read more

This is the face of diabetes… I think that we get wrapped up in our own lives and we forget what others have to live with each and everyday of their lives. How strong these kids are! And bless their parents and care takers.