In the article, we consider the rate of blood sugar in children. A table will be presented.
Diabetes mellitus is a complex and formidable disease. Every year more and more patients suffering from this disease are registered. Statistics have shown that every 10-12 years there is an increase in the number of patients by 20% around the world. The main danger is over-rejuvenation of this problem. Compared to the previous century, the number of children with insulin deficiency increased by approximately 45%. This picture makes doctors and patients seriously think about the possibility of preventing this disease, and, in addition, perform timely diagnosis and adequate treatment.
What is the norm of blood sugar in children? About it below.
Features of the disease in children
Everything in our world is constantly moving and developing. This is quite true for any person. Fully logical is the fact that the body of an elderly person functions differently than the body of a small child. The norm of sugar in the blood of a child per year differs from the norm at 5 years.
It depends on insulin activity and varies with age.
Reasons for the difference
The main reasons for the difference are:
- The effect of physiological immaturity of a hormonally active organ. This is especially true for newborns. Since the pancreas at the beginning of life is not considered a critical organ (compared with the heart, lungs, brain and liver), in the first year of the baby's existence, it undergoes ripening processes.
- Dependence on the active phases of development. For babies aged six to eight, as well as ten to twelve years old, growth spikes are very characteristic. These are a powerful release of growth hormone, causing all body structures to increase in size. Because of this activation, a physiological change in sugar level is sometimes observed. The pancreas should function stronger and serve as a source of additional insulin for the body.
Let us consider in more detail the norm of blood sugar in children.
Normal glucose values based on childhood
It is worth emphasizing that during different periods of a child’s life, sugar levels in the analysis may not be the same. Up to ten to twelve years of age, a tendency toward a decrease in the main indicators is observed. They can be different from similar values in adults and do not require any medical intervention.
The table of blood sugar standards in children is presented below.
Normal blood levels of an element such as glucose:
- What is the norm of blood sugar in children at 1 year old? It ranges from 2.77 to 4.3 mmol per liter.
- What is the blood sugar level of a child at 5 years old? This indicator is in the range from 3.2 to 5 mmol per liter.
- Parents are also interested in the blood sugar of a child at 10 years old. The normal value is from 3.2 to 5.4 mmol per liter.
Such constants are currently used by endocrinologists around the world. Moreover, they serve as the basis for the diagnosis of the disease.
How is blood sugar in children determined?
Blood sugar in children
This indicator varies significantly depending on the age of the baby. The lowest value is observed in newborns, and it gradually increases with age until it reaches the mark that is typical for adults.
It is important to note that diabetes can affect children at any age, including tiny babies who suffer from it. This type of diabetes is called congenital, and it can occur in a baby a few days after birth.
What is the norm of blood sugar in a child, every parent should know.
Children in the age group of one to two years also experience this formidable ailment. But unlike adult children, they still do not objectively evaluate their condition and cannot complain about it to their parents. Therefore, the only way to identify the disease in such a crumb in time is to regularly conduct blood tests.
Preschoolers, along with young schoolchildren, can already independently draw the attention of their parents to malaise. In this case, the task of parents is to carefully listen to complaints and, at the slightest suspicion of diabetes, immediately send the child to a doctor.
Why is there a deviation from normal blood sugar in children?
Hyperglycemia
It is very important to suspect a child’s disease in a timely manner in order to begin adequate therapy. In almost 100% of children under twelve years of age, diabetes can occur due to a complete or partial deficiency of insulin, which has a hypoglycemic effect. There are publications by a number of scientists who describe diabetes in boys at the age of twelve. They associate this phenomenon with the presence of obesity in a child, and, in addition, with the emergence of resistance of peripheral tissue to the action of insulin.
Thanks to laboratory tests, it is proved that in unhealthy children, organic and functional lesions of the pancreatic parenchyma are observed with a decrease in the production of the corresponding hormone, which may indicate a combination of the disease.
Provocative factors
The main reasons that can lead to changes in the amount of sugar in the blood of newborns or schoolchildren from ten to twelve years old are the following factors:
- The effect of heredity. In the event that two parents of a child suffer from this disease, then with a chance of about 25% their child will fall ill. If only one person in the family is a diabetic, then, respectively, the risks of developing this problem range from 10 to 12%.
- The presence of tumor neoplasms in the thyroid gland.
- The presence of hormonal problems with other endocrine organs (for example, with the pituitary gland, hypothalamus, adrenal glands, thyroid and so on).
- The effect of malnutrition. The predominance of fats and light carbohydrates in the diet leads to obesity, and, in addition, to the development of hyperglycemia.
- The presence of severe infectious diseases.
- Prolonged use of anti-inflammatory non-steroidal drugs and glucocorticoids.
- Incorrect methodology for analysis. It is important to determine in advance the rate of blood sugar in children after eating and on an empty stomach.
All of the above situations can cause a significant impact on blood sugar, which often leads to the development of diabetes.
Symptoms of diabetes in children
In the vast majority of situations, babies are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. As a rule, it accounts for over 98% of cases of the disease from the age of one month to eighteen years. The share of type 2 diabetes today is just over 1%.
Type 1 diabetes (also called insulin-dependent pathology) develops as a result of a lack of insulin in the child's body. The cause of such a dangerous disease is the death of pancreatic cells, which produce important hormones.
According to medicine, the development of diabetes in children is often provoked by all kinds of viral infections like measles, rubella, chickenpox, mumps and viral hepatitis. Another very common cause of diabetes is a malfunction in the immune system, against which killer cells attack pancreatic tissue.
Glucose lowering
Since the child in most situations behaves quite actively, this can provoke an increased use of the glycogen supply by the body. In this regard, the following situations may arise when doctors observe hypoglycemia. These include:
- Increased physical activity without sufficient replenishment of energy.
- Prolonged fasting.
- Violation of the metabolic process of the body.
- The appearance of diseases of the nervous system (we are talking about tumors and injuries).
- The patient develops sarcoidosis.
- Staying a person in constant stressful conditions.
Such problems can occur relatively rarely, but they should be taken into account as part of the interpretation of the analysis results.
Decryption or how to correctly determine the glycemia indicators?
Since, depending on the age of the baby, there is a certain fluctuation in the amount of sugar in the serum, it is extremely important to donate blood correctly for testing. This helps prevent errors in diagnosis and accurately determines the presence or absence of a disease. The correct procedure for taking tests, as a rule, provides for a complete abstinence from taking products ten to twelve hours before performing a blood sampling. You can only drink plain non-carbonated water.
During the procedure, through the lancet, the child is first punctured with the ring finger, and a drop of blood is directly applied to a special strip. It is then introduced into the meter and after only a few seconds you can get the exact result. Abnormal values of this analysis are indicators greater than 5.5 mmol per liter on an empty stomach. True, this value should not always be a reason for panic.
Glucose tolerance test
In order to accurately establish the diagnosis, an additional glucose tolerance test is carried out:
- A child should drink 75 grams of glucose, which is bred in water.
- Two hours later, a sugar test is carried out again.
- With indicators of more than 7.7 mmol per liter, with a certain accuracy we can already say about the presence of diabetes in the child.
It should also be noted that the body in children has the ability to lower glycemia in comparison with adults. This is directly related to the much greater functional activity of the hormone, which makes girls and boys more susceptible to absolutely all negative environmental factors. A person who is older than eighteen years of age should be considered a diabetic only if the sugar in his serum analysis is more than 11.0 mmol per liter (or 10.0 mmol per liter according to some separate publications) after performing a glucose tolerance test.
The body of children is still in some way a mystery to doctors and scientists. It is likely that after a few years they will invent new ways to combat this disease, and the acceptable level of glycemia, which is relevant today, will be changed. The main task of parents is to suspect the likelihood of developing an ailment in time and will immediately seek medical help. It is also worth noting that people with diabetes can live for years, you only need to learn how to do it if this happens.
Reviews
In the reviews, parents often write that the blood sugar level in children from the norm often deviates upward. Such a frightening phenomenon is due to the fact that a disease such as diabetes is much younger now.
Doctors, in turn, in the comments about this disease in children, insist on conducting regular medical examinations of small patients, especially if their family has close relatives suffering from this pathology.
We examined the rate of blood sugar in children.