Fight against diabetes ends with sweet success for Emirati children

When 13-year-old Khaled Alwaled was diagnosed with type-2 diabetes four months ago, his family immediately jumped into action.

The Emirati family changed their diet and embraced a more active lifestyle: Alwaled’s dad now takes him out for a walk every evening, while his 11-year-old brother plays football with him.

“Now we eat salads, fruits, cornflakes, and fresh juices,” says Alwaled, who is hopeful that the lifestyle changes will eventually result in his type-2 diabetes going away. The signs have been good: Alwaled’s blood sugars are now more stable so he no longer needs insulin injections, but tablets.

The way the Alwaleds have confronted diabetes together as a family is exactly what Khaled’s doctor, the consultant paediatric diabetologist Amani Taha Osman, loves to see.

The family attended a Play for Life workshop in Al Ain on Thursday organised by Osman at Al Ain’s Imperial College London Diabetes Centre. The aim of the session was to help bring families of children with type-2 diabetes together and learn how to control symptoms through interactive game and activities.

Osman hopes such events can help take the stigma out of a disease which now affects one in five of the UAE’s population.

Original article by Jessica Hill

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Fight against diabetes ends with sweet success for Emirati children