UTILIZATION OF CONTINUOUS GLYCEMIC MONITORING SYSTEMS AND PHYSICAL EXERCISE IN THE DIABETIC CHILD
Authors: Urzeala Constanta , Vlaiculescu Mihaela 
Published: February 2023

This study is achieved and published under the aegis of the National University of Physical Education and Sports of Bucharest, as a partner in the program co-financed by the European Social Fund through the Sectoral Operational Programme for Human Resources Development 2007-2013, developed through the project Pluri- and interdisciplinary in doctoral and post-doctoral programmes, Project Code: POSDRU/159/1.5/S/141086, its main beneficiary being the Research Institute for Quality of Life, Romanian Academy. Our contribution to the project development is based on a research topic oriented towards the possibilities of interdisciplinary intervention on the diabetic child, in the context of the permanent concerns of the diabetes care team to keep under control the evolution of this diagnosis.
The objective of the present paper is to highlight the opportunity for the child with type 1 mellitus diabetes of using the continuous glycemic monitoring system (CGMS) also during the development of physical education programmes, not only in domestic and school activities, as a support tool for adjusting the effort parameters and reducing the risk of hypoglycemia. The research took place within the Bucharest National University of Physical Education and Sports, in cooperation with the Bucharest DiabNutriMed Clinic of Diabetes, in the period between October and December 2014. As research methods, we used: bibliographic study, observation, computerized devices for continuous glycemic monitoring- DEXCOM G4 Platinum and also the case study. In this paper, we present the case of a diabetic child aged 6 years, who was diagnosed with this metabolic disease at 2 years and 6 months and who has been benefiting of a CGMS for about 2 years. His involvement in physical exercise programmes is put under the sign of the major risk of hypoglycemia, given the pronounced tendency of his body to have low glycemic values. The advantage of the electronic device he permanently carries, regardless of the type of activity performed, must also be emphasized in the case of his participation in motor activities, the more so as physical effort is a blood glucose-consumer. CGMS allows the teacher to find the initial, intermediate and final glycemic values without using the glucometer under conditions of precarious hygiene. Then, depending on the glycemic value displayed on the device screen during practice, the teacher chooses the physical exercises and establishes the effort dosing. In this way, the glycemic value that threatens the child's functional state is identified and the administration of carbohydrates in due time is facilitated, by reducing the risk of hypoglycemia and preventing the hypoglycemic coma. In conclusion, we appreciate as efficient the utilization of continuous glycemic monitoring systems in the case of physical exercise performed by the child with type 1 mellitus diabetes and we encourage the specialists in physical education and sports to get involved without reticence into the development of motor activities with this category of population.