Diabetes: First paediatric-focused calculator

Nationwide Children's Hospital recently developed an online resource to help parents manage their child's diabetes more effectively and care for their health at home.

The "Diabetes Calculator for Kids," a first of its kind electronic tool geared toward the pediatric patient, allows parents, caregivers and the adolescent patient themselves to create an individualised chart which calculates the correct insulin dosage that should be given prior to eating.

Diabetes, which affects nearly 1 in every 400 children and adolescents in the United States, is a disease that is characterised by a high blood glucose or "sugar" level.

Managing a child's diabetes requires the proper balance between insulin dose, food and activity on a daily basis. It is important to keep the child's blood sugars within a target range at all times.

Modern insulin therapy involves administering rapid-acting insulin before each meal and adjusting the dose based on the current blood glucose level and how much food will be eaten.

The Diabetes Calculator for Kids, available for any patient who uses insulin, creates an individualised chart for rapid-acting insulin bolus dosage in five easy steps.

After the parent or patient completes those steps online, a customised chart is produced that can be emailed or printed off.

It provides the parent, caregiver or patient an easy way to look up the correct insulin dosage based on current blood glucose, without having to do the math each time.

David Repaske

"The goal is to provide an additional tool to empower families to successfully manage their child's diabetes at home in order to provide as normal a life as possible for that child," said David Repaske, MD, PhD, chief of Endocrinology, Metabolism & Diabetes at Nationwide Children's and also a faculty member at The Ohio State University College of Medicine.

"The chart can also be printed out and taken to school or given to a sitter to ensure accurate insulin dosing without the need to learn the formula and do the math for each dose."

Nationwide Children's always recommends that parents consult with their child's physician first with any questions related to their child's individual diabetes management plan.

Children's Sugar Consumption Too High

U.S. children and teens are getting too much sugar in their diets, mostly from processed and prepared foods, according to a new study.

Sugar consumption decreased since 1999, although added sugars make up 16 percent of youth diets and contribute to the ongoing problem of childhood obesity.

Researchers followed 7,100 children and teens between 1999 and 2008 and found the majority of them had unhealthy eating habits.

Boys consumed 362 calories and girls consumed 282 calories from added sugar daily, a number that increased as the children got older. Forty-one percent of calories from additional sugar came from soda and other beverages, according to the study.

"If you look at individual items, the one that has the biggest contribution [to added sugar consumption] is soda," Cynthia Ogden, lead study researcher and epidemiologist of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that between 5 and 15 percent of daily calories come from sugars and fats combined.

The National Center for Health Statistics Data Brief published the study on Wednesday.

Lessening the number of calories children consume is imperative to curb childhood obesity. Over 12.5 million children ages 2-19 are obese, according to the CDC. The number has tripled since 1980.

In addition, childhood obesity-related healthcare costs $3 billion annually, according to a 2009 study published in Nature.

Parents need to watch what they buy and cook more at home to curb the calories their children eat, one dietician said.

"Whoever is the gatekeeper for the family food supply needs to take a good, hard look at their choices. Obviously, junk foods, cookies, desserts and sodas are high in sugar and non-nutritive calories," Samantha Heller, a dietitian and nutritionist based in Connecticut, reported.

However, many unexpected foods are high in sugars. Parents need to check ingredient lists for hidden sugars such as brown rice syrup, dextrose, fructose, molasses, sucrose, corn sweetener, barley malt syrup, fruit juice concentrates, glucose, cane juice syrup and sorghum, reported.