Parent and child perceptions of physical activity with type 1 diabetes.

INTRODUCTION: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a lifelong illness that affects over 2500 children in Ireland. Management involves complex daily regimens including frequent blood glucose monitoring, pharmacotherapy, dietary management, and physical activity (PA). PA is an important modifiable lifestyle factor. Unfortunately, children with T1D remain physically inactive. Children with T1D face disease-specific barriers and facilitators to PA engagement. All aspects of T1D management for children are supported or supervised by parents. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine parents' and children's perceptions of barriers and facilitators to PA engagement. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: 43 parent and child dyads participated. Parents completed a self-report survey. Children completed a modified version of the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children (PAQ-C) that explored habitual PA patterns, perceived facilitators and barriers to PA engagement. RESULTS: 21 females, 22 males and their parents (36 mothers, 7 fathers) participated. 69% of males and 90% of females reported that having diabetes did affect their PA participation. 54% of males and 48% of females were insufficiently active based on their total PAQ-C score (<2.9 and <2.7). 53% of parents reported that their children participated in school physical education. 21% of parents reported that their child did not participate in PA outside of the school setting. 23% of parents reported that they did not feel comfortable with their child participating in strenuous PA. A further 30% of parents reported that they only felt comfortable with their child participating in strenuous PA if supervised. 66% of parents reported their child should be more physically active. 83% of parents reported that having T1D did impact their child's PA level. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the potential influence of parents' perceptions on PA engagement in children with T1D. Additional education is needed to support the promotion of PA for children with T1D.

Play, art, music and exercise therapy impact on children with diabetes.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a global public health issue. Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is the predominant diabetes type in children and always requires insulin therapy. The incidence rate of newly diagnosed T1D in children continues to increase in Ireland Roche et al. (Eur J Pediatr 175(12):1913-1919, 2016) and worldwide Patterson et al. (Diabetologia 62(3):408-417, 2019). The objective of this study was to conduct a literature review of the effects of various non-pharmacological therapeutic modalities on the control of diabetes in children. A literature review was performed using PubMed, Medline, Embase and Cochrane library to evaluate play, art, music and exercise therapy in the treatment of DM using the keywords: "paediatric", "diabetes", "play therapy", "art therapy", "music therapy" and "exercise therapy". These search terms initially returned 270 cases, which resulted in a total of 11 papers being reviewed after eliminating duplicate or irrelevant papers. Literature review showed that all therapies have a positive impact on the child, but there is limited research looking at the impact of therapy on quantitative measures such as HbA1c or 'time in range'.