Child blood sugar levels chart

Recognizing diabetes is not as easy as many people think — especially when it’s a child with diabetes. Here are the signs and symptoms you need to know to identify diabetes in kids early — and why early intervention is key.

Diabetes affects children differently than adults, regardless of whether the child has type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes.

“We know that the presentation of diabetes, the severity, the course of the diabetes, are all a little bit different in kids,” said Jennifer Kelley, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics at Monroe Carrell Jr.

Children’s Hospital and a clinician with the hospital’s Pediatrics Diabetes Program.

High blood sugar in children+behavior

If diabetes is not properly diagnosed right away, it can lead to severe illness. Also, in some cases, delayed diagnosis can lead to delay of good blood glucose control, which can cause several health complications over time.

For example, it can “damage the blood vessels and nerves that go to things like the eyes, the kidneys and/or your extremities,” Kelley said.

That can ultimately

causes of high blood sugar in children

causes of high blood sugar in kids