Diabetes and Children

In 1995, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services designated the National Center for Health Education as the official sponsor of National Health Education Week (NHEW). Celebrated annually during the third week of October, NHEW's campaigns have focused on the topics of violence prevention, tobacco education, infection prevention, natural disaster preparedness, and nutrition. For NHEW 2000, NCHE conducted an educational awareness campaign aimed at informing adults and children about the present and future status of diabetes in the younger generation. A major goal of this multifaceted campaign was to foster school-family-community partnerships aimed at tackling issues related to juvenile (Type I) diabetes, as well as educating the general public about the recent reported increases of Type II diabetes in children and adolescents, and the myriad prevention opportunities to curb these trends in children and the adults they will become.

Diabetes mellitus is the seventh leading cause of death (sixth leading cause by disease) in this country, affecting 15.7 million people in the United States. Persons with diabetes are 2 to 4 times more likely to have heart disease and stroke than those without diabetes. Total expenditures attributed to diabetes and its complications were estimated at $98 billion in 1997: $44 billion in direct costs and $54 billion in indirect costs associated with the disease (e.g., blindness, lower extremity amputations, heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure).

Greater clinical and public attention is now being directed to diabetes, and research shows that much of the illness and death associated with diabetes can be prevented through diet, exercise, and drugs. Over 2,200 new cases of diabetes are diagnosed every day in the United States leading to a steady increase in the percentage of the U.S. population with diabetes. The public health and economic burden of diabetes will likely continue to increase in the U.S. and throughout the world over the next two decades.

As part of the educational awareness campaign, NCHE developed a diabetes curriculum for teachers in grades k-6. This curriculum includes lessons, activities and resources that teachers can use to educate their students on Diabetes prevention and management. Below are links to the curriculum and a separate resource document for teachers. Also below are links to Tips for School resources provided by www.childrenwithdiabetes.com. Finally, there is a link to the School Bill of Rights for Children with Diabetes.

Children with Diabetes Curriculum
Teacher Resources
Tips for School: Children with Type I Diabetes
Tips for School: Children with Type II Diabetes
School Bill of Rights for Children with Diabetes