HealthInfo Canterbury

Diabetes in children & teens

Mate huka ki ngā tamariki me rangatahi

Diabetes, sometimes called diabetes mellitus, is a lifelong disease that causes high glucose (a kind of sugar) in your blood.

When you eat foods containing carbohydrates (such as bread, cereal, fruit and some vegetables), your body turns them into glucose. Your body needs insulin to move glucose out of your blood and into your muscle and fat cells.

Insulin is a hormone you make in your pancreas – a gland below your stomach.

You get type 1 diabetes if your body doesn't make enough insulin. This is the most common form of diabetes in tamariki (children) and teens. Health professionals don't fully understand what causes type 1 diabetes but it's a mix of genetic factors (passed down from parents) and a trigger in the environment such as a viral infection. It isn't related to what a tamaiti (child) eats.

You get type 2 diabetes if your body can't use insulin properly. Risk factors for getting type 2 diabetes include being overweight and having a whānau (family) history of diabetes.

Symptoms of diabetes

The main symptoms of diabetes include:

• being hungry, thirsty and drinking more fluids
• weeing (urinating) more often
• losing weight
• feeling tired
• having blurry vision
• getting infections.

Diagnosing diabetes

Your doctor will usually diagnose diabetes using blood tests, including finger-prick tests for blood glucose.

Treating diabetes

For type 1 diabetes, the treatment is the hormone insulin, combined with managing what you eat and physical activity. Insulin is usually injected into your body and you learn to do this yourself.

You may be able to manage type 2 diabetes by losing weight, healthy eating and physical activity. Sometimes you may also need tablets and insulin.

  HealthInfo recommends the following videos

• Health Navigator New Zealand – Diabetes: young people's journey with type 1 diabetes

  Young New Zealanders talk about their experiences with type 1 diabetes.

  HealthInfo recommends the following pages

• KidsHealth – Diabetes

  Information about diabetes in tamariki.

• Diabetes Canterbury Youth

  The Diabetes New Zealand Canterbury Youth Branch supports young people living with diabetes in Canterbury. It runs several events a year, including a summer camp. Follow Diabetes Canterbury Youth on Facebook to keep up with their activities.

• Diabetes New Zealand
  • Diabetes Youth

    Support for young people with diabetes and their whānau.

  • Together we can help Kiwis with diabetes live well

    Information and resources for people affected by diabetes.

Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed November 2022.

Sources

Page reference: 64257

Review key: HIDIA-21832