iblog

Schools are failing to give diabetic children the help they need in the classroom, and are increasingly relying on parents to help.

Research shows that a remarkable 70% of schools asked parents to come in and inject their child with insulin if the child could not do it themselves. Diabetic children are also missing out on school trips because of their condition, a research study by Diabetes UK found. The findings were released on World Diabetes Day.

Douglas Smallwood, Chief Executive of Diabetes UK, said: “This research confirms what too many parents have been telling us - that children with diabetes get a raw deal at school. Every aspect of school life is important, whether it’s access to the support needed to manage a child’s diabetes and protect their long-term health, or crucial social elements like sports and trips.”

The survey also showed that school staff and teachers are not given the training they need to help diabetic children, and wouldn’t know how to help them in an emergency situation. This is bad news because results from the National Diabetes Audit revealed that 83 % of children are not achieving recommended blood glucose levels, increasing their risk of developing serious complications of diabetes.

Diabetic children may miss out on sport, school trips and extra curricular activities as staff do not have the training to handle situations that may arise.

Most children with diabetes are around 10-14 years old, and suffer from type 1 diabetes, which means they need a daily insulin injection to balance their blood sugar levels.

A new website has just been set up by Diabetes UK for teenagers to help and give them advice about their condition, called MyLife.

Although I do not expect every teacher to be able to treat diabetic children, I do think there should be quite a few staff in each school who receive training to handle emergencies. I do not think it is fair for parents to come into school and give their child their daily injection, they should be able to go about their daily lives while their kids are at school knowing they are safe.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 14th, 2007 at 6:35 pm and is filed under Lifestyle, Current Affairs, Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.