How to Manage Pre-diabetes in Children?

Pre-diabetes is a well-known risk factor for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Pre-diabetes and diabetes are also strongly linked with obesity. Therefore, prevention of this condition includes maintenance of a healthy body weight to avoid obesity. If an adult with pre-diabetes follows lifestyle modifications and takes medications to avoid diabetes mellitus, reduction in the risk has been noted(1). However, none of the studies has demonstrated how to avoid the progression of pre-diabetes to diabetes in adolescents and children so far.

If your child has pre-diabetes, certain lifestyle modifications will help bring the blood-sugar level to normal. They will at least prevent the progression to diabetes mellitus.

Healthy foods

Promote your child to eat healthy foods. Select foods low in calories and fat, and high in fibre and lean proteins. Avoid processed foods, snacks, takeaways, and candy. If they used to have unhealthy foods, cut back those gradually. It is better to focus on vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Offer five or more portions of fruits and vegetables a day. A simple way to motivate the child to eat fruits and vegetables is to make them easily visible. Strive for a wide variety of foods, because it helps achieve the target without limiting nutrition and taste. You can achieve this target with changes in the diet of your whole family. Always try to eat together at the dinning table. Certain researches demonstrated that children, who had the majority of the meals with their family members, were unlikely to be overweight.

Motivate the child to eat breakfast daily, because it helps limit the calorie intake throughout the day.


Exercise

Encourage the child to engage in physical activities. Your child should do physical activities at least one hour daily. Gradually build up to achieve this target. You can exercise or play with them regularly. Then, they will motivate to do physical activities. However, you should realise their capacity too.

Maintain weight

If your child is overweight or obese, his or her body weight should be maintained rather than losing weight. It will allow the child to grow into a healthy weight as he or she gets older. However, you should talk to the health-care provider of your child to know the goals and guidance on the target weight. Cutting back calorie intake in a growing child is not a good option unless recommended by a health-care professional.

Limit TV time progressively to a maximum of two hours per day.


Medications

Limited data are available to recommend medications to manage pre-diabetes in adolescents and children.



Related Links:

How Do You Know You Have Pre-diabetes?
Pre-diabetes: Development in Children
Is Your Child at Risk of Pre-diabetes?
What is Diabetes Mellitus?

References

1.    Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group, Knowler WC, Fowler SE, et al. 10-year follow-up of diabetes incidence and weight loss in the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study. Lancet. 2009;374:1677-1686.