Diabetes + Puberty: Of impacted Linear Growth

Watching your child hit their growth milestones is a joy of its own. However, if your child already has diabetes, then here’s a few things you need to keep an eye on when they are close to puberty.

Looking over a child’s health condition and dealing with the puberty-related physical and psychological challenges can be tough. However, there are coping measures that can help your child and you navigate these many changes, together…

• Start with making things easier. Diabetes management comes with a fair bit of monitoring – for glucose levels and the foods and activities that impact these levels. When at an age where your child is probably already averse to someone constantly checking up on them or drawing unwanted attention from their peers, take the help of something that they are familiar with – gadgets! Health tech like sensor-based and pain-free continuous glucose monitors can be extremely helpful, both in having your child’s glucose levels discreetly monitored through the day sans interference, and also with giving them a sense of control over their own health. They can become active participants in their own health journey, without feeling like it is something they are forced to do by their parents or care-givers.
• Get them to be a part of the process. Help them understand how their bodies work, what it requires and how to understand their health markers better. Knowing the impacts of the various highs and lows, will give them a better sense of why they need to nourish and strengthen their bodies in a particular way.
• Make key aspects of health management (both for diabetes and puberty) –  like diet and exercise – more enjoyable and purposeful, to find a balance. For instance, healthy, balanced meals with nutrients that their growing bodies require and a little added room for special treats, helps in dealing with the needs of both puberty and diabetes better. Similarly, exercise too plays a big part in helping adolescents be more in tune with their ever-changing bodies. Regular physical activity is essential for managing their diabetes...and growth spurts too! Make mindful movement a part of their daily routine by finding out what kind of activities they truly enjoy, while paying attention to how it impacts their glucose levels.

Growing up is often not easy – for children and parents alike! Puberty, with its many impacts can be turbulent enough, without the addition of a condition like diabetes to the mix. Getting your kids more involved in their health journeys, with the aid of information and health tech, can go a long way in riding out the emotional and physical flux that this age often brings...making every stage of life more pain-free and empowering!