Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (NMCP) helped 13 pediatric diabetic patients learn about nutrition and blood sugar management during the 10th annual Art and Science of Food event July 22.

The event brought school-aged children together to give them a chance to learn more about their disease in a fun environment.

"Food is perhaps the biggest factor with diabetes management," said Linda Gottlick, NMCP Pediatric Endocrinology nurse. "There are many factors involved in managing blood sugar, but it is a key factor that we teach how food can really affect sugar levels."

Dealing with a chronic illness can be difficult for adults, and even more so for children. NMCP schedules the event in the middle of summer so kids can attend during the day and learn coping strategies for when they are back in school. They also learn how to deal with peer pressure, and how to fit in with their classmates while having to manage their blood sugar levels. Participants ranged from toddler to teenager.

"This is the first year that we have not had set age ranges," said Gottlick. "All of the children here were diagnosed at different ages and I think that the interaction with older children is really helping to raise the spirits of the young children. It shows them that this really is a manageable condition. It also helps when they are able to hear real life experiences with using the information we are teaching them."

This year's event was held in the NMCP galley, which allowed the children to eat breakfast and monitor the effects their menu choices had on their blood sugar levels.

They were also instructed by Lt. Cmdr. Paul Allen, Nutrition Management department head and registered dietician nutritionist, on the composition of food and how to balance their meals to keep their sugar levels balanced.

"Our goal is to help them maintain as normal of a blood sugar level as they can," said Gottlick. "With this information and experience, we hope to help them avoid the spikes that come with food."

While monitoring their levels, the kids learned different ways of staying active to help maintain safe levels. Some children even took a walk around the medical center to help lower their sugar levels after eating.

"It is very important for us to teach our patients about the effects that diet and exercise can have on their blood sugar levels," said Lt. Cmdr. Melissa Buryk, NMCP pediatric endocrinologist. "There are a lot of common misconceptions about foods they can and cannot have. We also like to be able to get patients of different ages together to help share real life situations and experiences with managing diabetes, because not everyone lives the same lifestyle and were diagnosed at different times in their life."

Once a child is diagnosed with diabetes they are referred to the NMCP Endocrinology Clinic. The clinic currently takes care of approximately 220 diabetic children.

"There are some classic signs of childhood diabetes, that we call the 'polys,'" said Gottlick. "If a child is extra hungry, extra thirsty, urinating frequently, feeling extra hungry or experiencing strange mood changes, they could be experiencing signs of diabetes. If a child is diagnosed as diabetic, they are referred to our clinic and we do everything we can to help them manage their condition."

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil/, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, visit http://www.navy.mil/.