Sky Post (10/11/2021)(In Chinese)
Diabetes | Type 2 diabetes among Hong Kong children has nearly doubled in 20 years; parents are under heavy mental and financial burdens and hope for more support
Diabetic patients suffer from life difficulties. The Children’s Diabetes Association assisted experts in collecting data and found that the incidence of diabetes among children and adolescents in Hong Kong continued to rise. The number of patients with type 2 diabetes has nearly doubled in 20 years. Doctors believe that the situation is worrying. Parents of diabetic children said that they were exhausted and the cost was high when caring for them. The organization suggested that the government strengthen public education and provide financial support to reduce the burden on parents.
Since 2016, the Child Diabetes Association has funded and supported 12 pediatric departments under the Hospital Authority to collect local child diabetes data and establish the “Hong Kong Child Diabetes Register”. It was found that there were 533 children and adolescents with diabetes in Hong Kong between 1997 and 2007, and 889 between 2008 and 2017. Among them, the number of type 2 diabetes patients increased from 198 to 391, nearly doubling, and the incidence rate per 100,000 people increased from 1.27 to 3.42.
Paediatrician Dr Cheung Pik-to analysed that data showed that the number of children with diabetes in Hong Kong continued to increase, which was a worrying situation. In the past, the incidence rate in Hong Kong was much lower than that in foreign countries, but the gap has begun to narrow in recent years. The current upward trend in Hong Kong is more consistent with the global situation. It is estimated that this is due to the overall social environment changes. In the long run, diabetes will increase the chances of various complications. He believes that more research is needed in the future to track the health impact of diabetic children.
Blood testing equipment costs at least over a thousand dollars a month
Summer, a type 1 diabetes patient, is now 11 years old and is in primary 6. Her father, Mr. Huang, said that when his daughter was 3 years old, she had a fever and her weight continued to drop by one-third. When he held his daughter, he could feel her bones and felt that she was “skin and bones”. At the same time, she drank a lot of water and went to the toilet. After consulting 5 doctors, he “supervised her finger”. At that time, her blood sugar value was over 30, and she was immediately admitted to the hospital and diagnosed. Mr. Huang said that at first, he had to get up 3 times in the early morning to test his daughter’s blood sugar, and the blood test equipment cost at least more than a thousand dollars a month. At the same time, he had to arrange for relatives to go to school at noon to inject insulin for his daughter in the early stage. He described it as exhausting.
In addition to the financial and mental burden, the patients themselves also have to face the outside world’s perspective. Summer said that when she first injected drugs or ate candy at school, her classmates felt strange and “a little difficult to explain”. Fortunately, her kindergarten and primary school were in the same school, and her classmates were very understanding. Mr. Huang said that the school and teachers were not well-informed, which led to his daughter encountering many difficulties at school, such as being restricted to injections during lunch time, and having to go to the toilet to maintain blood sugar levels during class if she ate candy, which may cause psychological pressure on children.
The chairperson of the Children’s Diabetes Association, Ms Cheng Fung-kei, said that parents of children with diabetes often face the above mental and financial burdens, making life very difficult. The association will hold a series of activities this month to raise social awareness. It is hoped that the government will provide long-term financial support to parents and provide more assistance at the school level. In the future, public education should be further strengthened to enable the public to better understand diabetes.
Tips for children and adolescents with diabetes:
- Check blood sugar regularly and inject insulin
- Eat regularly and maintain a good exercise habit
- Prepare for hypoglycemia by carrying fast-digesting carbohydrate foods
- Wear identification tags to help others identify you and write your parents’ contact information on the blood glucose meter
- Attend all scheduled blood sugar tests and regular appointments with your doctor