Low blood sugar a risk for active diabetic kids

By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Children with type 1 diabetes
are more likely to have an overnight drop in blood sugar on
days when they get exercise, according to a new study.

In an experiment that monitored diabetic children’s
nighttime blood sugar on sedentary and active days, researchers
found that the risk of hypoglycemia — abnormally low blood
sugar — was greater on exercise days.

Overall, 42 percent of the 11- to 17-year-olds had
overnight hypoglycemia after exercising in the late afternoon,
versus 16 percent on the exercise-free days.

The findings point to the importance of adjusting kids’
diabetes regimen on active days, the study authors report in
the Journal of Pediatrics.

“Exercise is good for them,” said study co-author Dr. Roy
Beck, director of the Jaeb Center for Health Research in Tampa,
Florida. Besides the general health benefits, he noted in an
interview, exercise can help keep blood sugar from rising too
high.

But the risk of a delayed nighttime drop in blood sugar
means that parents should speak with their children’s doctors
about how to adjust insulin doses and evening snacks to meet
the demands of a particularly active day, according to Beck.

A “rigid” approach to managing diabetes doesn’t work, he
said.

The study included 50 adolescents who were observed in a
clinic on two separate days — one where they remained inactive
and one where they exercised on a treadmill late in the
afternoon. Nearly all had some dip in blood sugar during
exercise, while 42 percent had an overnight episode of
hypoglycemia.

Some kids in this latter group, though, had nighttime
hypoglycemia on the sedentary day as well — with the risk
being greater among those who were active in their daily lives.

A possible explanation, the researchers note, is that
regular exercise had made their bodies more responsive to
insulin.

SOURCE: Journal of Pediatrics, October 2005.