Parents advised to test children for diabetes

By Agnes Kyotalengerire

Aggrey Kibenge a parent recounts how traumatizing it was to see her daughter diagnosed with type I diabetes receive insulin injections every day.

At one point Kibenge had to ask doctors for oral options.

“When we got to know that our daughter had diabetes, we lived in denial and wondered why it had to be us,” Kibenge narrates his ordeal.

The news of a child being diagnosed with diabetes is so devastating to many parents and more so the idea that they have to depend on insulin injections all their life.

To sensitize parents and their children on nutrition like carbohydrate counting and general health issues surrounding type I diabetes, SUGAR CUBES a group that supports children living with diabetes held a family diabetes workshop on Saturday at Sheraton Hotel Kampala.

Sseguya   Wenceslaus a nutritionist working with Changing Diabetes in children Committee said most challenges parents encounter are treatment and nutrition related.

“Parents have a perception that there is specific diet for children living with type I diabetes. Some feel bad to imagine their children will have to do away with things like ice cream, sodas and chocolates. But they just have to use the available foods correctly and know that children with diabetes do not eat anyhow.,” Sseguya advised and told parents to always plan for their children’s meals in order to avoid effects of poor meal management,” Sseguya warns.

The effects may include short term effects like persistent high blood glucose levels, excessive weight gain or abnormal blood fat levels.
 

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Children living with diabetes type 1 pose for a group picture with their parents and health experts after the diabetic workshop at Sheraton Hotel on Saturday. PHOTO/Agnes Kyotalengerire

In this regard, Lewis Denis Bukenya the training manager Naguru Teenage Information and Health Center said it is possible for children living with type I diabetes to live a normal life and cautioned parents against seeing their children’s diabetes condition as a problem.

“Managing diabetes in children is stressful but the first step is accepting the condition and managing it like any other health condition,” Bukenya advised.

He urged parents to always let people around their children including the school administration know their health status.

 In addition, he encouraged parents to always go beyond medical issues of insulin intake and talk about other things related to their condition for example school issues, who their friends are and their interests so as to support them better.

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Children living with diabetes type 1 and their parents were given T-shirts and glucometers during the workshop on November 15, 2014 at Sheraton Hotel. PHOTO/Agnes Kyotalengerire

What is type 1 diabetes?

Type 1diabetes also known as insulin-dependent diabetes is the most common type, mostly affecting children and young adults.

Though the statistics on Type 1 diabetes in Uganda are scanty, Dr Gerald Mutungi the in-charge Non- communicable Diseases at the ministry of health estimates over 300,000 children to be living with diabetes type 1.

 Of these about 700 children are enrolled in care and treatment I the 21 health facilities run by Changing Diabetes in children project.

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Diagnosis of type I diabetes in children

Jackie Namara Rukare of SUGAR CUBES said diagnosis and treatment of type I diabetes remains a challenge in the country because parents and medical workers are not quick to think that children too can have diabetes which results into complication like diabetes coma or at worst children dying with undiagnosed diabetes.

“When a child is taken to the health facility not feeling well, the medical people check for malaria and other infections but never check for diabetes and by the time type I diabetes is confirmed, probably the child has gone into diabetic coma, Sseguya explains.

Founder of Majorie’s Fund, Dr. Jason.C. Baker who was also diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 25, urged parents to always observe their children and look out for abnormal symptoms that may point to type I diabetes.

“All people with type 1 diabetes, regardless of age deserve the chance to thrive. If diabetes is diagnosed early and treated well people with diabetes type 1 can live long healthy and productive lives,” Dr. Baker advised. 

Signs of type I diabetes in children

Dr Florence Tugumisirize, the chairperson of the national steering committee, Changing Diabetes in Children says patients with Type 1 diabetes depend on external insulin for life because the body cannot produce enough of this hormone.

According to Tugumisirize children with diabetes type 1 present with symptoms like fever, cough, extreme thirst, frequent passing of urine, sudden bedwetting, drowsiness and weight loss because the body cannot get sugar into the cells.

They may also become unconscious or have difficulty in breathing if they lack insulin.