Diabetes Dateline
Fall 2011
Updated NDEP Guide Helps Keep Children with Diabetes Safe at School
School-age children with diabetes face unique challenges
on their way to and from school, during class, at mealtime,
and on the playing field. To help teachers, principals,
parents, and others ensure the safety of children with
diabetes throughout the school day, the National Diabetes
Education Program (NDEP) has updated its manual, Helping
the Student with Diabetes Succeed: A Guide for School Personnel.
Visit www.yourdiabetesinfo.org/schoolguide 
to view the guide or order a copy.
“Unfortunately, the need to manage diabetes doesn’t go away at school,” said Griffin P. Rodgers, M.D., M.A.C.P., director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). “The guide, quite literally, can be a lifesaver.”
The guide also recommends steps parents should take to keep their children safe:
- Notify school officials when a child is diagnosed with diabetes.
- Work with the child’s personal health team to develop a medical management plan and provide it to school staff.
- Allow sharing of medical information between a child’s school and medical team.
About 19,000 young people are diagnosed with diabetes annually. The vast majority have type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease resulting from defects in the pancreas. A smaller number of children are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, which typically shows up in adulthood. However, as obesity rates increase among youth, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes among children and adolescents also is rising, especially for children with ethnic and racial minority backgrounds.
The NDEP is a federally funded program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ NIH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and includes over 200 partners at the federal, state, and local levels, working together to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with diabetes.
For more information about the NDEP and its materials, visit www.yourdiabetesinfo.org or call toll-free 1–888–693–NDEP (1–888–693– 6337).
NIH Publication No. 12–4562
December 2011
Page last updated: December 19, 2011
