How Does Type 1 Diabetes Affect A Child's Growth And Development?

Question: How does Type 1 diabetes affect a child's growth and development?

Answer: Growth and development are important indicators of a child's overall health and so it is with diabetes. If a child with diabetes has very good blood glucose control, growth and development should be normal. But if the child has a lot of high blood sugars and has a lot of episodes of ketoacidosis, it can have a serious effect on growth and development.

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Growth can be slowed and the child eventually could cross those percentile lines and end up short. And in terms of development, puberty can be delayed. So in order to prevent problems with growth and development, it's really important to have the diabetes in very, very good control -- as much as possible.

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