Like anyone else, kids with diabetes are healthier if they get plenty of exercise. They also have the same chances of doing well at sports. Whether you want to go for the gold or just go hiking, diabetes doesn't have to hold you back.
Exercise is an important part of managing diabetes and staying healthy. Exercise can:
All exercise is great, from walking the dog or riding a bike to playing team sports. Just try to be active every day. Changing your exercise habits might be hard at first, so start small and slowly work your way up until you can do more.
Talk to your doctor to help you get ready to exercise or join a sport. Your doctor will help you figure out how often to test your blood sugar. You might need to do it before, during, and after exercise.
Your doctor will also let you know when you should take insulin, how much you should take, and how you should take it. If you inject insulin, talk to your doctor about the best spots to inject. If you use an insulin pump, talk to your doctor about making sure it's not in the way when you play.
Also make sure to:
When kids with diabetes exercise, they can get get low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia (say: hi-po-gly-SEE-me-uh). Or they can get high blood sugar, or hyperglycemia (say: hi-per-gly-SEE-me-uh).
You may have low blood sugar if you:
You may have high blood sugar if you:
Keep an eye on cuts, scrapes, or blisters. Be sure to tell your parents or doctor right away if any injuries get darker in color, are swollen, or ooze pus — they might be infected, which can make your diabetes harder to control.
Kids with type 1 diabetes shouldn't exercise if they have substances called ketones (say: KEE-tones) in their blood. When this happens, exercise can make things worse, and you can get very sick. Your doctor will tell you how to figure out if you have ketones, how to treat this problem if you do, and how to get back on track.
After you've met with your doctor and talked about what you need to do, you're ready to get started. Get moving and have fun!
Reviewed by: Melanie L. Pitone, MD
Date Reviewed: Feb 1, 2024
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