Diabetes summer camp can improve your kid’s physical and emotional well-being. Find out how!
Attending a diabetes camp can be a fun, empowering, and incredibly comforting experience for your child if he or she has been diagnosed with diabetes. Every summer, diabetes camps give children with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes a chance to relax and be normal kids, without having concerns about their disease overshadowing everything. American Diabetes Association Camps offer children who have diabetes the chance to have a great time participating in traditional camp activities while learning to live successfully with their disease. Attending one of these summer camps can have a profoundly positive effect on children affected by diabetes, improving their emotional and physical well-being in several key ways.
Let them know they are not alone
Being diagnosed with diabetes can sometimes leave children feeling a bit isolated and alone. At diabetes summer camp, your kid will get the chance to connect with other children who have diabetes. Instead of standing out as different because they have this disease, kids will bond with others over the shared experiences they face. Living and interacting in an environment where diabetes is the norm.
Helps them feel “normal” despite diabetes
As you know, when children have diabetes, they can end up feeling singled out or “different” because many simple things that they once enjoyed with their friends, such as spending the night at someone else’s house, may not be possible. At diabetes summer camp, your child will get to be a normal kid and participate in all the traditional activities that make camp so much fun. Your child will get to have a glorious time running, jumping, swimming, and participating in every activity, while you can breathe easy knowing your child will be under the care of doctors and nurses who are experts on diabetes care.
Helps build self-confidence and independence
One of the biggest benefits of diabetes summer camp is that kids will learn that diabetes won’t hold them back from anything they want to do. It is common for children with diabetes, particularly when they are newly diagnosed, to fear that diabetes will prevent them from living a full, healthy life. Through participation in activities geared to build self-reliance and one-on-one sessions with counselors, campers become confident in their ability to manage their diabetes while enjoying everything that life holds.
Learn how to manage their diabetes on their own
Making the switch from managing your childs diabetes to helping them manage their disease themselves can be a difficult task, particularly when dealing with younger children. The programs at diabetes camps are specifically designed to help children learn how to manage their own treatment. Most diabetes camps don’t weigh children down with formal “lessons” or educational classes, but rely instead on the concept of “teachable moments” where children learn how to manage their disease and life naturally through doing. Through participating in a variety of age-appropriate activities, your child will learn everything from how to count carbs and make the right food choices to how to take a shot of insulin.
There is still time to join in the fun. American Diabetes Association Camps run all summer long in locations throughout the United States. The camps accept children between ages 4 to 17, and financial assistance is available for those in need.
For more information helpful for families dealing with Type 1 diabetes, browse through our pages at www.BetterHealthKare.com. You will find tons of useful tips on living with diabetes, delicious diabetes-friendly recipes, exercises for diabetics, and other useful advice on healthy living.
