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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Apr 10.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Diabetes Rev. 2015;11(4):231–238. doi: 10.2174/1573399811666150421114146

Table 1.

Ideal division of diabetes management roles across developmental stages

Child age Patient responsibility Parent responsibility
Infant/Toddler (ages 0–2) Cooperation Total diabetes management
Preschool (ages 3–5) Interact with parents around checking BG; cooperating with BG checks and treatment of low BGs Total diabetes management with rare responsibility given to the child with parental supervision (e.g. selecting finger to check blood glucose level)
School-age (6–12) Begin to understand and communicate symptoms of high and low BGs; begin to interpret BGs, start to count carbs, carry supplies Most responsibilities with parents/adults with more responsibility given to child with parental supervision; child developing more autonomy (e.g. around eating, checking blood glucose for exercise)
Early adolescence (13–14) Perform majority of daily diabetes tasks with supervision; check in with parents around diabetes management; begin to interact with healthcare providers on own Parents provide more oversight than perform actual tasks; parents overseeing big picture management but share decision making with the teen
Late adolescence (15–18) Ongoing reinforcement of self-care skills; integrating self-care with social and emotional development; routine diabetes foot care, eye exams; understanding need for future care and screening for complications Supervision of tasks as needed; youth mostly autonomous but should feel able to seek support and help from others, especially parents