Diabetes Self-Care Initiative for High School Students

Introduction

The onset of modernization, coupled with the globalization process over the last 50 years, has seen not just the spread of positive cultures and influences to different parts of the world, but also the propagation of harmful health conditions — among them, diabetes. The importation of Western culture to other regions, including remote islands, brought Western diets and ways of life, some of which have had significant negative health impacts. Fast food and the sedentary lifestyle encouraged by passive electronic entertainment have been major contributors to rising rates of diabetes among populations that historically did not experience such high numbers of cases.

The staggering number of new diabetes cases among men and women who traditionally had low rates of the disease is cause for alarm. More troubling still is the ever-increasing number of children with type 1 diabetes, which stands at more than 215,000, with no near-term solution in sight. These alarming statistics indicate that necessary measures must be taken to ensure that people living with diabetes are well cared for and equipped with the knowledge needed to manage their condition.

As children grow up and enter high school, there is a need for them, as young adults, to be mentored in self-care so that they can ease pressure on healthcare practitioners, allowing those practitioners to focus on younger children who are not yet able to care for themselves. This healthcare approach is fully supported and advocated by the self-care theory developed by Orem (Alice P., 2015).

This proposal highlights significant facts about diabetes among children and adolescents and, more importantly, demonstrates proper and effective ways through which adolescents can take care of themselves and support peers who have diabetes. It also describes how the effectiveness of this approach could be measured, making it a model that can be replicated in communities elsewhere.

Problem Statement

The increasing number of children diagnosed with diabetes means that a growing proportion of adolescents are entering high school already living with the condition, and that number continues to rise as they age. It is especially important to note that high school is the stage at which most students shift their eating habits and often adopt a fast food culture, exposing themselves to high-calorie meals and heavily processed sugars and salts. These habits complicate life for students already managing diabetes, underscoring the need for a stable intervention system targeted specifically at the high school population — a group simultaneously navigating cultural change and health challenges.

For students to appreciate the importance of the intervention proposed here, it is essential to understand that diet plays a significant role in determining whether an individual will experience diabetes-related complications. High-fat, high-calorie diets often result in obesity and subsequent diabetes, given the well-documented relationship between the two conditions (Reece, A., 2010). In assessing various diets in the management of diabetes and its associated complications, Ajala, O., English, P., and Pinkney, J. (2013) found that low-carbohydrate, low-GI, Mediterranean, and high-protein diets are beneficial for people with diabetes, as they help strengthen the cardiovascular system. Barnard, N., Cohen, J., Jenkins, D., et al. (2009) further found that a low-fat vegan diet improves glycemia and plasma lipid levels far more effectively than conventional diets — a finding with positive implications for diabetes management and prevention.

Cunningham-Myrie, C., Theall, K., Yonger, N., et al. (2015) developed a research-based model connecting the environment and society, physical activity, obesity, and diabetes. They argued that children grow up observing the eating habits of those around them and often adopt those habits, even when the diet is poor. These children also tend to lack active forms of entertainment, defaulting to sedentary activities such as watching television or playing computer games. This inactivity allows fat to accumulate without calories being burned, creating the conditions in which the body becomes susceptible to diabetes — a condition now affecting an adolescent population that should, by contrast, be among the most physically active.

Given these facts, there is a need to help high school adolescents recognize that they can lead healthy lives, reduce their risk of developing diabetes, and manage an existing diabetes diagnosis in ways that do not negatively affect their health or academic performance. A wholesome intervention that addresses the diabetes challenge in high school in a comprehensive manner is therefore necessary. This plan examines the importance of a self-care initiative among high school adolescents as a means of empowering patients and relieving pressure from healthcare personnel.

Implementation Framework

The approach proposed here is grounded in the self-care deficit theory primarily advocated by Orem, which aims to ensure a sufficient quality of healthcare among individuals. This framework helps diabetic students identify the challenges they face in managing diabetes and guides them through a self-implemented plan that enables them to manage the disease appropriately.

Orem's theory divides the self-care deficit framework into three major components: the theory of self-care, the theory of self-care deficit, and the theory of nursing systems. The first two are the most applicable to this scenario, in which promoting diabetes care within the high school setting is the primary focus. This plan therefore addresses the various approaches that can be used to manage diabetes, the necessary foundational knowledge, and the post-implementation evaluation.

Conclusion

Diabetes among adolescents can no longer be treated as a minor concern, given that it has its roots in the individual's childhood. The number of high school students living with diabetes will continue to increase each year. Fortunately, this age group is one that can be trained and empowered to rely on their own capabilities in managing the disease and supporting peers dealing with diabetic complications. Knowledge of appropriate diet, physical exercise, and proper medication is essential to empowering adolescents to care for themselves, and this knowledge must be planned and delivered systematically in order to ease the pressure currently experienced by healthcare practitioners.

References

Ajala, O., English, P., & Pinkney, J. (2013). Systemic review and meta-analysis of different dietary approaches to the management of type 2 diabetes. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 97(3), 505–516.

Barnard, N., Cohen, J., Jenkins, D., et al. (2009). A low-fat vegan diet and a conventional diabetes diet in the treatment of type 2 diabetes: A randomized, controlled, 74-week clinical trial. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 89(suppl), 1S–9S.

Cunningham-Myrie, C., Theall, K., Yonger, N., et al. (2015). Associations between neighborhood effects and physical activity, obesity, and diabetes: The Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey, 2008. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 68(9), 970–978.

Reece, A. (2010). The fetal and maternal consequences of gestational diabetes mellitus. The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine, 23(3), 199–203.