Doctors sometimes say a healthy goal for children with type 1 diabetes is to achieve "near-normal" glucose levels. While it would be swell if your child maintained an A1c of 7 percent or lower -- the same goal as for adult patients -- concerns about hypoglycemia must be balanced against the desire to aggressively lower blood sugar in children.

Diabetes blood sugar check
The goal of managing childhood diabetes is to keep glucose levels
as close to "normal" as possible.

Prolonged low glucose can cause brain damage in very young children. As kids get older, their eating and exercise patterns become unpredictable. What's more, parents must rely, in part, on school personnel to help manage a child's glucose. Hormonal changes at puberty add a further challenge to tight control.

While your child's diabetes-management team will establish appropriate goals for glucose levels, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) offers the following guidelines for children with type 1 diabetes. (The ADA has not established guidelines for children with type 2 diabetes; however, the National Diabetes Education Program suggests that parents of type 2 patients use the glucose goals detailed below.)

Remember, these are only guidelines. Your doctor may recommend higher goals if your child has frequent hypoglycemia or hypoglycemia unawareness.
 
Age  Blood glucose
before meals (mg/dl)
 Blood glucose
bedtime/overnight (mg/dl)
A1c (%) 
Under 6 years
 100 to 180  110 to 200  7.5 to 8.5 
6 to 12 years
 90 to 180  100 to 180
 Less than 8 
13 to 19 years
 90 to 130  90 to 150  Less than 7.5 

Regardless of the type of diabetes that a child has, the goal of effective diabetes management is to keep blood glucose levels as close to a "normal" range as safely possible in order to reduce the long- and short-term complications of diabetes and to promote normal growth and development. The target blood glucose range must be determined individually for each child.

For more information on diabetes, try the following links:
  • Diabetes and Children: If your child has diabetes, he or she will have different needs than an adult. Find out how to manage your child's disease.
  • Blood sugar: Frequent self-monitoring is the key to successful diabetes care. Learn why and how to check your blood sugar.
  • Diabetes Treatment: Living with any form of this disease means keeping a steady blood-sugar level. Find out how to treat the main types of diabetes.
  • Diabetes: This disorder in the blood can affect most of your organs. Learn how it works here.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Timothy Gower is a freelance writer and the author of several books. His work has appeared in many magazines and newspapers, including Prevention, Health, Reader's Digest, Better Homes and Gardens, Men's Health, Esquire, Fortune, The New York Times, and The Los Angeles Times.

ABOUT THE CONSULTANTS:

Dana Armstrong, R.D., C.D.E., received her degree in nutrition and dietetics from the University of California, Davis, and completed her dietetic internship at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. She has developed educational programs that have benefited more than 5,000 patients with diabetes. She specializes in and speaks nationally on approaches to disease treatment, specifically diabetes.

Allen Bennett King, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.A.C.E., C.D.E. is the author of more than 50 papers in medical science and speaks nationally on new advances in diabetes. He is an associate clinical professor at the University of California Natividad Medical Center and cofounder and medical director of the Diabetes Care Center in Salinas, California.

This information is solely for informational purposes. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. Neither the Editors of Consumer Guide (R), Publications International, Ltd., the author nor publisher take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action or application of medication which results from reading or following the information contained in this information. The publication of this information does not constitute the practice of medicine, and this information does not replace the advice of your physician or other health care provider. Before undertaking any course of treatment, the reader must seek the advice of their physician or other health care provider.