Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 22, Number 1, 1 January 2005 — Diabetes and our keiki [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Diabetes and our keiki

Aloha mai kākou. Hau'oli Makahiki Hou! I hope you enjoyed a wonderful New Year's celebration. 2005 is here, and I look forward to a year of exciting achievements for all of us in the Hawaiian community. Every New Year brings efforts to change bad habits and turn them into resolutions to better ourselves. Improving our health status is very high on many individuals' lists of resolutions, but I want to extend those thoughts to resolve to change for the better to include our keiki and 'opio. Diabetes in our children is a problem growing by leaps and bounds. Mueh of this problem stems from the fact that obesity is today mueh more prevalent in our keiki and 'ōpio. Children who are diagnosed with diabetes have what is called juvenile diabetes, whieh is classified as Type 1 diabetes and occurs when the body stops producing insulin. Having Type 1 diabetes

requires the injection of insulin every day and is considered a lifelong chronic disease. Until recently, children with diabetes usually fell into the Type 1 diabetes category, but recently there has been a dramatic increase in Type 2 diabetes, especially in young children. Type 2 diabetes was formerly called "adult-onset" diabetes and is usually diagnosed in adults over the age of 30. Many researchers believe that this dramatie increase of Type 2 diabetes in children is due to increased obesity coupled with poor eating habits and sedentary or inactive lifestyles. Considering that adults with diabetes are challenged daily with diabetes management, imagine if you are a child with diabetes and the burden that comes with this chronic disease! Families with diabetic children must virtually change their daily lives to adapt to the proper and daily care of diabetes! There are many things to consider, such as

food, medicine and physical activities, all in an effort to achieve positive blood sugar control. Also take into consideration the emotional well-being of our children who have to deal with diabetes. Consult your physician and/or a diabetes educator to assist your family in coping with the many new elements that relate to diabetes. The American Diabetes Association's website, www.diabetes.org, has a section called the "Youth Zone" whieh is geared for children and is quite informative. So what ean we do for our keiki and 'ōpio? We need to show them that we love and care about them and their well-being. If your ehildren fall into the "eoueh potato" group, look for ways to motivate them to be more physical. Can you remember the days that children played till it was dark and watching television was at a bare minimum? Our lifestyles dictate how and what we do to get to tomorrow, but we

need to remember that our children are our future. A future of unhealthy adults is a scary thought! I want to recommend to my fellow diabetics to register at the annual "Taking Control of Your Diabetes" (TCOYD) conference scheduled for Saturday, February 12, 2005, at the Hawai'i Convention Center in Honolulu and Sunday, February 13, 2005, at the Kaua'i Marriott Resort in Eīhu'e. The conference fees are nominal and financial assistance is available through the TCOYD organization. If you need assistance in contacting the TCOYD organization, please eall my office at 594-1879 and my staff will gladly assist you. Hope to see you there! As always, my staff and I invite your comments on the above or any other concerns within our purview. My OHA access numbers are: phone 594-1854, fax 594-0210 and e-mail address - dantec@oha.org. A hui hou, mālama pono. ■

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Dante Keala Carpenter 1

Trustee, O'ahu