Physical activity in children with Type 1 diabetes study v1.0 13.01.14
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The feasibility of a physical activity intervention for children with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: Steps To Active Kids (STAK)
IRAS ID
132229
Contact name
Holly Blake
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Nottingham
Research summary
Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) is a chronic disease that occurs when the body stops producing insulin, causing permanent high blood sugar levels. Over time, this causes damage and failure to the body’s internal organs and tissues, known as diabetes complications. This puts children with T1DM at increased risk of serious health problems such as cardiovascular disease.
Physical activity is important for children with T1DM to help improve blood sugar control, to reduce the risk of diabetes complications and improve duration of life through delaying the onset of cardiovascular disease. Interventions that promote long-term physical activity in children with T1DM are likely to have physical and psychological health benefits. Up to now, no study has tested a theory-driven physical activity intervention in pre-adolescent children with T1DM.
This study aims to test the feasibility of a physical activity intervention called the Steps To Active Kids (STAK) programme in children aged 9 - 11 with T1DM from a diabetes clinic based in Nottingham. The STAK programme promotes physical activity in children who have a chronic disease, low levels of physical activity or who lack confidence to take part in physical activity. The intervention involves an Activity Diary, circuit training, pedometer step counting, daily physical activity monitoring and goal-setting to promote long-term increases in physical activity and its associated health benefits.
Testing the feasibility of the STAK programme will involve determining the acceptability of an intervention and feasibility of recruiting and retaining participants, delivering the intervention and conducting an evaluation. This study will also explore the treatment effect of the STAK programme on health outcomes such as level of physical activity, self-efficacy, body composition and diabetes control. The outcomes from this study will inform the delivery of a larger study.
REC name
East Midlands - Nottingham 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/EM/0057
Date of REC Opinion
17 Mar 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion