http://diabetes-exercise.org/forum/topic/water-polo-kids-with-diabetes Diabetes Exercise and Sports Association Topic: Water Polo & Kids with Diabetes en-US Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:12:15 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.1 q http://diabetes-exercise.org/forum/search.php http://diabetes-exercise.org/forum/topic/water-polo-kids-with-diabetes#post-58 Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:40:49 +0000 nharris1 58@http://diabetes-exercise.org/forum/ <p>From one athlete&#39;s mom to another:<br /> Jeff was diagnosed at 12--just at the beginning of the teen growth AND he wanted to play football. So I understand your struggle to find balance. Jeff was 5&#39;8 and 170 as a freshman in high school and grew to 6&#39;3&quot; 270 (yep, lineman) as a senior. (Now playing D-1 college ball.) He wears a pump (but not during practice.)<br /> We took this approach: Eat all the time. Really.<br /> If you know what the schedule is for the week, plan on 6 to 8 meals (not huge) per day to keep the level of carbs floating around in his body up and give his pancreas enough support to recover from tournaments/camps/games/practice without drastic lows overnight (kind of like feedings when they were babies.) We had a written daily schedule with what to eat and when to eat it--less thinking and more accuracy on the part of the developing brain (if you catch my drift ;-)) You can come at this from a calorie direction, too--Jeff consumes 5000-7000 calories a day--figure out what your son needs and go from there. We lowered his basal rate (on the pump) for the 2-4 hours immediately before heavy activity to allow a few more carbs to hang around for burning during activity. This is where the trial and error part can be more challenging, but once you get a feel for the carbs required before, during, and after, it&#39;s not too bad. Try a protein shake(or similar) right after activity (protein slows sugar absorption--makes it more even and helps build muscles) and continue putting carbs into blood stream--metabolism will be elevated for a long time after activity stops. Gatorade is a good emergency filler, but is only sugar and is quickly worn out/used up.<br /> I always had extra sandwiches (ham &amp; cheese, pb&amp;j) around--and he ate those as snacks.<br /> We still work on his feeding patterns--even in college. Every time the training schedule changes, he has to watch for insulin/carb changes as well.<br /> Trial and error is a pain, but with some clever planning, you can keep him going pretty smoothly. BTW--frozen burritos were one of Jeff&#39;s favorite &quot;protein/carb&quot; bombs after practice.<br /> Hope this helps.<br /> Nancy </p> http://diabetes-exercise.org/forum/topic/water-polo-kids-with-diabetes#post-55 Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:48:46 +0000 k3m2coleman 55@http://diabetes-exercise.org/forum/ <p>There are many topics discussing running and other sports for adults with diabetes, not much info. for kids. I have an 11 year old diagnosed 6 years ago who plays club water polo. Practices 4 times a week 2 hours each day, tournaments on weekends up to 6 games in two days. We struggle adjusting and trying to find the right balance. Anybody out there have any suggestions? Drs. and educators simply say its trial and error. </p>