Changing Diabetes® in Children reaches out to 4000 children & 10,000 people in India
Children are the future of a nation and it is the responsibility of all citizens to ensure their well-being and health. As part of the Novo Nordisk Education Foundation mission to defeat diabetes, the changing diabetes® in children programme on World Diabetes Day conducted over 40 activities across its 21 centres pan-India.
Under the awareness drive, around 4000 children with diabetes and 10,000 people were educated on ‘know your risks to keep an eye on diabetes’.
Through various activities like diabetes walkathons, diabetes education classes, ‘Type 1 Champs at school’ campaign and poster competitions; children with type 1diabetes and families interacted with adults with type 1 diabetes living a healthy life.
It was interesting to see children draw insulin, parents and doctor as ‘superheroes who help win over diabetes’ in the poster competition.
Children were once again educated on topics such as ‘importance of insulin’ and ‘proper storage’. The primary focus of these diabetes education programs was on overall health and prevention of complications. The participating parents were handed literature on ‘do’s and don’ts tips for managing diabetes in children’ among all parents.
As part of WDD, participating children were also given ‘my companion pouches’ a handy, high quality pouch for carrying insulin since maintaining cool chain is essential for maintaining the effectiveness of insulin
Some of the other activities conducted included blue lighting of CDiC centres; formation of the ‘blue circle’ by children; physical activities like yoga and dance; and talent search competition.
As part of this year’s WDD campaign, “Type 1 champs at school”, a drive for making teachers cognisant of simple measures to help children with type 1diabetes and offer a safe and supportive environment at school was also launched. As part of this, around 2000 teachers were educated and screened for diabetes; an emailer campaign listing useful information on type 1 diabetes for teachers was sent to approximately 1200 teachers; and a media campaign creating awareness about importance of teacher’s knowledge on management of diabetes and its impact on future of children was initiated with articles by Dr Banshi Saboo in Ahmedabad and Dr Bipin Sethi in Hyderabad.
