Diabetes Education in P.E. Class Learning about Diabetes in a Fun and Fit Way!!

Test your students’ diabetes knowledge with Quiz Calisthenics! The coach or teacher will read out a true/false trivia question. If the students think the answer is true, they will do 5 pushups. If they think the answer is false, they will do 5 crunches. If any student answers wrong, they will do 5 tuck jumps. **Exercises and reps can be altered**

 There are 3 types of diabetes. (True-type 1 type 2 and Gestational)  Insulin is a hormone that allows the glucose in food to enter the cells. (TRUE)  A person with type 1 diabetes’ liver doesn’t produce insulin. (FALSE- it’s the pancreas)  A glucose meter is a device that measures blood pressure. (FALSE-it measures blood glucose/sugar)  People who are obese are more likely to develop Type 2 Diabetes. (TRUE)  Diabetes can cause long term damage in the nerves, eyes, kidneys and blood vessels. (TRUE)  Type 2 diabetes is most common in African-American, Hispanic, Native American, and Pacific Islander populations. (TRUE)  Excessive thirst is a symptom of diabetes. (TRUE)  You can catch diabetes from someone who already has it. (FALSE-no you cannot)  Low blood sugar is also called Hyperglycemia. (FALSE- it is hypoglycemia)

A person with diabetes, healthy blood sugar or blood glucose is mg/dl. If the level is higher, a good way to lower your blood sugar is by being active! When you exercise, the sugar or fuel that gives your body energy comes from the blood, the liver and the muscles. During the first 15 minutes of exercise, most of the fuel comes from either the blood stream or the muscles. Then, as the exercise duration increases, the fuel comes from glycogen stored in the liver and then from glycogen stored in the free fatty acid. As a result, exercise can deplete sugar levels and glycogen stores. This game is very similar to “peppering” in volleyball. The students will pair up, and will have to “pepper” continuously, or bump, set, spike together. The coach or teacher will give the students a current blood sugar, for example 152 mg/dl, and whichever pair can lower the blood sugar into a healthy range first ( mg/dl), by peppering, wins. 1 completed bump, set, spike is equivalent to lowering 1 mg/dl. By being active, the students are lowering the blood sugar and keeping their diabetes in good control!

The game of Alpha-Beta-Delta is similar to that of Red Light! Green Light! Yellow Light! The coach will yell out Alpha, Beta, or Delta and the first student to make it across the gym is the winner! Alpha Cells synthesize and secrete glucagon, that SLOWLY increases overall blood glucose. Therefore, when the teacher yells, “Alpha!” the students must run in slow motion.  Beta Cells secrete insulin that forces glucose to GO into the cell. When the teacher yells, “Beta!” the students will run as fast as they can across the gym.  Delta Cells release somatostatin which STOPS insulin release, therefore stopping glucose from entering the cell. When the teacher yells, “Delta!” the students must all stop where they are.

Beta vs. Delta is like the game Freeze Tag. A few “taggers” are Beta Cells, and a few other “taggers” are Delta Cells. The other students are all glucose. If a “glucose” gets tagged by a Delta Cell, they must freeze right where they are and cannot move until they are tagged by a Beta Cell. This signifying Delta Cells inhibiting glucose from entering the cell, or stopping it from moving, and Beta Cells forcing glucose into the cell, allowing it to move again.

Designate boundaries. Depending on the size of the play group, one or more children are the Cell, and the rest of the children running around are the sugar. Any one tagged by the Cell must join hands and become part of it. The object of the game is for the Cell to devour all of the sugar in the gym in order to get energy!

The teacher holds up a card with a specific type of food on it and the carb counts of that food. If the student has that number on their card, they place a marker on it. Whoever gets 4 markers in a row doesn’t have to do the class prize!! The class prize consists of some sort of exercise.(pushups, squats, sit-ups, etc.)

The teacher will call out a food, and however many carbohydrates are in that food determines the number of students needed to form a group. Anyone who isn’t in a group, due to odd numbers, is out, and has to walk around the gym until the rest of the students are out. 1 cup of popcorn= 5g of carbohydrates Children get into groups of 5

The teacher will choose a food card. The type of carb that is drawn determines the exercise, and the amount of carbs determines the amount of reps. Starches= Push-Ups Fruit= Tuck Jumps Dairy= Burpees Sweets= Sit-Ups Juices= Squats 1 hot dog bun (starch) 20 g ½ a banana (fruit) 13g 1 yogurt (dairy) 10g

 ½ banana: 13g  1 hot dog bun: 20g  1 corn tortilla: 12g  1 baked potato: 15g  1 flour tortilla: 16g  1 pancake: 14g  4 wheat crackers: 5g  1 slice of bread: 12g  ½ c of corn: 15g  1 packet of Ketchup: 2g  1 tbsp Chocolate Syrup: 12g  ½ c of ice cream: 15g  1 c of milk: 12g  1 yogurt: 10g  1 apple: 19g  10 grapes: 9g  1 c of pineapple: 20g  1 c of watermelon: 11g  1 granola bar: 18g  1 biscuit: 15g  ½ c mashed potatoes: 15g  1 c of popcorn: 5g  1 c of chicken noodle soup: 7g  1 piece angel food cake: 16g  1 fun size milky way bar: 12 g  2 graham cracker squares: 10g  1 glazed donut: 30g  ½ c of Dr. Pepper: 13g

 Each game can be a different station that is played for 5 minutes and then rotated.  In preparation for the School Walk for Diabetes, each lesson can be a different game to give diabetes education.  While stretching, instead of counting during the stretches they spell out diabetes, insulin, pancreas, etc.