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.
Water Polo & Kids with Diabetes
(2 posts) (2 voices)-
nharris1
MemberFrom one athlete's mom to another:
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 5'8 and 170 as a freshman in high school and grew to 6'3" 270 (yep, lineman) as a senior. (Now playing D-1 college ball.) He wears a pump (but not during practice.)
We took this approach: Eat all the time. Really.
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'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.
I always had extra sandwiches (ham & cheese, pb&j) around--and he ate those as snacks.
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.
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's favorite "protein/carb" bombs after practice.
Hope this helps.
NancyPosted 5 months ago #
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