20% of parents of Spanish diabetic schoolchildren are not satisfied with the treatment of school to the disease

One in five parents of children or adolescents with diabetes in Spain claims to be dissatisfied with the support he receives from the school in the management of the disease, which in this country affects about 29,000 children under 15 years.

Specifically, 86% of parents believe they should improve information on the control of an emergency situation related to diabetes;81% think that teachers should be better informed;67% see the availability of a nursing professional during school hours, and 54%, the availability of healthy eating.

These are some of the most important Spanish data of the Dawn Youth "Webtalk Survey" survey, whose results are presented today within the framework of the 44th Annual Meeting of the European Society for the Study of Diabetes, which is celebrated from yesterday until theNext Thursday, September 11, in Rome.

The survey, conducted in Spain by the Diabetes Foundation, has collected "On Line" the opinions of a total of 377 parents of children and adolescents with diabetes, 154 young people with diabetes and 51 professionals involved in their treatment.

According to Rafael Arana, director of the Diabetes Foundation, the importance of this work "is that it does not focus on therapeutic options, but on the treatment and interaction of professionals with children and young people with diabetes and their families, life, lifechild's school or the need for psychological support. "

In addition to Spain, they have participated in the Brazil, Denmark, United States, Holland, Italy, United Kingdom and Japan project.Its elaboration has been possible thanks to the collaboration of the International Federation of Diabetes and the International Society of Children's and Youth Diabetes and the support of the Novo Nordisk laboratories.

About 1,100 new annual cases

Child diabetes is between 10 and 15% of the total disease and is the second most frequent chronic pathology in childhood.In Spain, some 29,000 children under 15 have diabetes and every year there are about 1,100 new cases.

Although during childhood parents are main responsible for the management of the disease, children who come to the nursery or school face situations that require the help of people who are in their charge, explains Foundation forDiabetes.

The way to solve these situations and the daily self -care that diabetes implies "are fundamental to prevent the serious complications" associated with the disease, which can begin to develop in the pediatric age, such as blindness, renal insufficiency, amputations and cardiovascular diseases.

These complications can be avoided whenever there is good diabetes control.However, "the situation of children with diabetes in school is unacceptable", since "the risks they face because of the poor support they receive from the school are serious and suppose a threat to their life", explains Professor Thomas Danne, general secretary of the International Society of Children's and Youth Diabetes.

"The results of the Dawn Youth study highlight the importance of solving the problems related to children's diabetes. Thus, the conditions of children with diabetes in school can only be solved when parents, health professionals and education work together, each holdof them on their part, "concludes the International Child and Youth Diabetes Society.

On the other hand, almost all of the health professionals who have conducted the survey in Spain (96%) believe that an improvement is needed in relation to the support that occursFrom schools to children and adolescents with diabetes.