Parental Attitude Toward the Engagement in Physical Activity of Their Children with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus in Hungary.

Objective: Physical activity plays an essential role in a healthy lifestyle. For children, the development of an encouraging attitude toward exercise can define a positive life-long behaviour. Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a metabolic disorder that usually develops in early childhood and severely affects glucose metabolism. Associated hypo- and hyperglycaemic conditions can dramatically interfere with the patient's everyday life. Since exercise significantly alters the glucose consumption of the body, this might influence how T1DM patients view physical activity. As parental guidance is critical in their children's behaviour, we investigate how parents of T1DM children relate to the engagement in physical activity of their children as compared to parents of healthy children.

Methods: A self-reported survey was conducted among those parents whose T1DM children were cared for at the Paediatric Clinic of the University of Debrecen, Hungary. All together, 318 children, 140 with T1DM and 178 healthy peers, participated in the study.

Results: We found no significant difference in the body mass index of healthy and T1DM children and, furthermore, no significant difference was observed in HbA1c levels in exercising and non-exercising T1DM children. Nevertheless, while 67.6% of the healthy children regularly engage in physical activity, only 57.5% of T1DM children do so (p = 0.044). Importantly, parents whose T1DM child exercised regularly believed that daily PhysEd classes improved their children's health and had positive effects on their attitude toward exercise. In contrast, parents of children who did not regularly exercise were significantly less convinced.

Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of targeted educational efforts to foster positive attitudes toward physical activity among families with T1DM children and contribute valuable insights into how parental perceptions may influence children's engagement in exercise.