KARACHI, Nov 15: Parents have an important role to play in the lives of their teenage wards suffering from diabetes. They should help the diabetic children select the right kind and amount of food and promote physical activities for them in the community.

These views were expressed by health practitioners and dieticians at an awareness and education programme organised by the Aga Khan University Hospital in collaboration with the Pakistan Nutrition and Dietetic Society on Saturday as part of World Diabetes Day events. A few diabetic school and college students, who had come along with their parents, also attended the programme.

In line with the theme of the Diabetes Day, speakers mainly focused on young generation. Mentioning that diabetes in children was on the rise, they stressed that awareness be spread about symptoms of the disease and measures be taken to help manage the disease among children in order to save them from suffering from heart, eye, kidneys and nerves complications.

Dr Abdul Jabbar, an endocrinologist from the AKUH, informed the young students about the symptoms and effects of diabetes. He told them that if they had diabetes, their pancreas would make little or no insulin — a substance that controls the amount of sugar absorbed in blood — or their body cells could not use insulin very well. Teens can have the first two types of diabetes caused due to genes or viruses and toxins, the doctor said, adding that teens who made unhealthy food choices were not physically active or those who had a family member with diabetes were more likely to be at the risk of getting type-2 diabetes.

He pointed out that they should help their wards keep their glucose level as close to normal as possible and suggest them to make healthy food choices and eat the right amount of food besides keeping them active. “Physical activities both at home and educational institutions can make the children feel better if they are in a bad mood or stressed out,” he observed.

Nousheen Aziz of the nutrition and dietetic society talked about the basic principles of nutrition. She asked students to reduce weight as fat in their body decreased insulin’s effectiveness. Proper and balanced food choices, including the effective carbohydrate choices like wholegrain food, low-fat milk, fresh fruit and vegetables, and their timing counted very much in the management of diabetes, she noted.

Another practitioner, Faiza Shoaib, said that parents should choose a variety of nutrition from all food groups and try to calculate the calories of their wards food, ensuring that they eat similar amount of calories and carbohydrates every day.

Tahir Akber Ali, a diabetic education nurse, with the help of slides talked about the changed responsibilities of the diabetic children and their parents and called for proper monitoring of the children in respect to clothing, skin and foot care, and administration of insulin to them. She also discussed the variety of insulin and its maintenance and methods of administration.

A type-1 diabetic girl student mentioned that she had been suffering from the disease since the age of seven and during the last about 8 to 10 years she learnt a lot about managing the diseases. “So far I have no complications. I am living a perfect life like normal teenagers,” she added.