Eating disorders also an influence on diabetes

Children and teenagers with diabetes may also have to face behavioural problems, mental illness and eating disorders, meaning that many parents and children should receive extra help. A Canadian expert believes that taking a family-centric approach is the key to staving off diabetes, its effects and complications.
Dr. Jean-Victor Wittenberg, the head of infant psychiatry at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada, has the following to say on the matter: “The well-being of the child is inexorably connected to the well-being of his or her parents and vice versa. The stress on the parents is huge when children are ill. We have to make sure the family is working well so it can take care of its members.”
According to Wittenberg, effects of type 1 diabetes diagnosis can lead to eating disorders, ADHD, anxiety attacks, substance abuse and even self-harm. All of these problems are apparently more common amongst children and adolescents who have type 1 than amongst the general population.