Physioprophylaxis of type 1 diabetes in children using physical exercise

According to the Physiotherapist Act, physioprophylaxis is an important component of physiotherapy and of the physiotherapist’s professional activities. Physioprophylaxis can be oriented towards practicing healthy lifestyle behaviours, minimizing disease risk factors, or attenuating the consequences of the disease, surgery, and/or disability. Type 1 diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease characterized by hyperglycaemia, i.e. high blood glucose levels. It is caused by the dysfunction or destruction of β cells of pancreatic islets of Langerhans, which are responsible for the production and secretion of insulin. Type 1 diabetes is most common in children and adolescents. According to the 2018 report, 6,400 children aged 0-14 years and about 180,000 people over 14 years old suffer from type 1 diabetes in Poland alone. Physical activity is an important stimulus for optimal physiological development of children and adolescents, and is an important factor in reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and mortality. Physical exercise reduces the need for insulin and increases the sensitivity of cells to insulin, so that the daily dose of insulin can be reduced. The Polish Diabetes Association recommends that children with type 1 diabetes should exercise for more than one hour a day in order to reduce the risk of vascular complications associated with the disease. The aim of this paper is to examine the effects of type 1 diabetes physioprophylaxis in children in the form of physical exercise, based on previous literature. The majority of research indicates physical activity has a positive effect on physiological function in children with type 1 diabetes, specifically reducing the risk of hypoglycaemia, high blood glucose level, insulin demand, and premature death.