Does your child have asthma as well?
A before, during and after routine for a child with an inhaler, and who to ask about the plan.
Read about football and asthmaChild With Type 1 Diabetes Playing Football: A Plan to Share With the Team
Kit, Rules & Safety
Football and type 1 diabetes can go together, with a plan from your child's own team.
This page helps you pack the bag, brief the coach and know what the NHS says to do in a hypo, and it leaves every number to your diabetes team.
For a child with type 1 diabetes playing football, the work is in the plan rather than the pitch. The NHS says to check blood glucose before, during and after exercise, to always carry something that raises it quickly and to make sure the people around your child know the signs of a hypo (NHS type 1 diabetes). Tell the coach and keep your child's own diabetes plan to hand (NHS trust leaflet). Whatever you read here, your child's diabetes team decides the numbers, the food and any change to insulin. This page gives none of those. It is not medical advice, and no source read tests short garden football in children with type 1 diabetes.
For a long time I thought the hard part of a kickabout was getting the boots on, and I only found out the hard part is the bag after forgetting a drink bottle on the back step.
Whose plan is it?
Type 1 Diabetes and Sport: Start With Your Child's Team
The NHS says to check blood glucose before, during and after exercise, and notes that managing diabetes may need adjusting around exercise (NHS type 1 diabetes). What changes, and when, belongs to your child's diabetes team and varies with the treatment your child uses (NHS trust leaflet).
Diabetes UK says a football match, with its fast bursts of movement, can make blood glucose rise. It also says insulin can work harder after exercise, so a low can come later (Diabetes UK). Those are two things to ask about, and this page does not say what to do about either.
At the next clinic, you could open with this:
"Our child wants to play football. What should we check, when and what should we have in the bag?"
Then take five questions with you, written so you don't have to invent them:
- What should we check before and after a session, and how often?
- What should we do if the number is outside the range you have set?
- What should we eat or drink to have on hand, and how much?
- What should we do after a session or overnight?
- Who should the coach call?
The leaflet is a 2021 NHS trust leaflet and the Diabetes UK page is a general guide, so neither is a plan for any one child (NHS trust leaflet)(Diabetes UK).
The football bag
What to Pack in the Football Bag for a Child With Type 1 Diabetes
Six things go in the bag. Each one comes from your child's team, an NHS page or, for the first, an American parent guide, and none comes with an amount, because the amounts are for the team to set.
- 1
The diabetes kit. Whatever your child's team has told you to carry for checks, taken from the team's own list (KidsHealth).
- 2
Fast-acting carbohydrate. The NHS says to always carry something that raises blood glucose quickly, such as sugary drinks, sweets or glucose tablets (NHS type 1 diabetes). Your child's team may name a different one and an amount, so use theirs.
- 3
A longer-acting snack. Only if your team has told you to carry one.
- 4
Medical ID. The NHS says to wear medical ID, such as a bracelet or a card (NHS type 1 diabetes). The leaflet suggests a medical alert ID where possible (NHS trust leaflet).
- 5
Water and the plan. A drink bottle, and a copy of your child's own hypo plan or the coach note from the next section.
- 6
Two of everything that matters. Keep spare fast-acting carbohydrate in the bag and with the coach. The leaflet says the child and the coach or teacher should always have fast-acting carbohydrate with them (NHS trust leaflet).
When the day is hot, read the heat checks for a hot day. There is no drink advice here for a child with diabetes, because that is for the team.
Say it before kick-off
What to Tell the Coach Before the First Session
I used to leave the important bit to the last minute, shouting it over a fence, and I have learned a short note the coach can keep is better.
The NHS trust leaflet says to tell the person supervising and make sure they can identify and treat hypos (NHS trust leaflet). Diabetes UK says to tell the person in charge and make sure they know how to treat a hypo (Diabetes UK). KidsHealth suggests giving the coach written instructions (KidsHealth).
To ask for a few minutes, you could say:
"Shall we have two minutes before the session? My child has type 1 diabetes and I'd like to show you the bag and the plan."
The five-line coach note
Copy this onto a card and fill in each blank from your diabetes team's own plan. Leave a blank empty until the team has given you the answer.
- My child has type 1 diabetes.
- Signs to watch for, from our team: ______. The NHS list includes feeling hungry, dizzy, anxious or irritable, sweating, shaking, tingling lips, heart palpitations, tired or weak, blurred vision and confused (NHS low blood sugar).
- The fast-acting carbohydrate is in: ______. Our team says to give: ______.
- If my child cannot take it by mouth, follow our team's plan: ______. Call 999 if my child is unconscious, and give nothing by mouth.
- My phone number: ______. Our diabetes team's number: ______.
For what a first club session looks like, read what to expect at a first club session. If your child has asthma as well, the same bag can hold both plans, and the asthma page has the inhaler side.
Your child's plan comes first
Low Blood Sugar During Football: What the NHS Says to Do
If your child's diabetes team has given you a hypo plan, follow that plan. This table follows the NHS's general wording, plus one stricter line from our coach note.
| What you see | What to do, and what the NHS says |
|---|---|
| Any sign on the NHS list: hungry, dizzy, anxious or irritable, sweating, shaking, tingling lips, heart palpitations, tired or weak, blurred vision or confused. | Eat or drink something that raises blood sugar quickly, such as a small glass of fruit juice or a sugary fizzy drink (NHS low blood sugar). Your child's team may choose a different one. |
| After the quick sugar. | Check blood sugar again after 10 to 15 minutes (NHS low blood sugar). What to do next is in your child's plan. |
| Unconscious, or cannot take anything by mouth. | Do not give any food or drink, because they cannot swallow safely. Put them in the recovery position. Give a glucagon injection straight away if one is available and you know how to use it. Call 999 for any unconscious child, as the coach note says. The NHS triggers are a glucagon injection that is not available, not knowing how to use it, or no recovery within 10 minutes of the injection (NHS low blood sugar). Your diabetes team teaches glucagon, and this page does not. |
Pause the game as soon as any sign appears. The NHS list includes feeling anxious or irritable, so a child who snaps may be having a low, not just a mood. A sudden stop or a quiet spell is not on the NHS list, but it is still a reason to pause and check against your child's plan.
The NHS page is a general one for any age. It was last reviewed on 3 August 2023, and it is not written for a child at a football session.
After the match too
After the Whistle, and on Days the Plan Changes
The NHS says to check glucose after exercise as well as before and during (NHS type 1 diabetes). Diabetes UK says a low can come after exercise, so ask the team about the hours that follow (Diabetes UK).
On a day your child is unwell, football waits, and your diabetes team's guidance for a poorly day applies. When your child is ill, read the page on playing football after being ill, but your diabetes team's plan for a poorly day comes first.
What is known and what is not
What the Sources Say, and Where They Stop
Signs of a low, a quick sugar, a recheck after 10 to 15 minutes, glucagon and 999. That is the NHS page on low blood sugar, last reviewed 3 August 2023.
Check before, during and after exercise, carry something fast-acting, wear medical ID and tell the people around your child. That is the NHS guide to living with type 1 diabetes, last reviewed 31 October 2024.
Tell the supervisor and ask the diabetes team for advice, because advice varies. That is an NHS trust leaflet on physical activity and type 1 diabetes, dated 29 July 2021.
A football match can raise glucose, and a low can follow later. That is Diabetes UK's page on physical activity. The idea of written instructions for the coach comes from a KidsHealth guide for parents of young athletes, which is American.
These are general NHS pages, one NHS trust leaflet from 2021, a charity guide and an American parent guide. None is a study of football in young children with type 1 diabetes, none sets numbers for your child and none replaces your child's own diabetes team. A search found no source that tests a short garden session.
Quick answers
Common Questions About Type 1 Diabetes and Football
Can a child with type 1 diabetes play football?
Many do, with a plan from their diabetes team. This page helps you prepare, and the team decides the details (NHS type 1 diabetes)(NHS trust leaflet).
What should I pack for football?
Your team's kit, something that raises blood glucose quickly, medical ID and a copy of the plan (NHS type 1 diabetes)(NHS trust leaflet).
How often should I check during football?
The NHS says before, during and after exercise (NHS type 1 diabetes). How often, and what to do with the result, is for your child's diabetes team.
What should I tell the coach?
That your child has type 1 diabetes, the signs to look for, where the fast-acting carbohydrate is and who to call (NHS low blood sugar)(NHS trust leaflet).
What do I do if my child has a hypo during football?
Stop play and follow your child's plan. The NHS wording is a quick sugary drink, then a recheck after 10 to 15 minutes, and 999 if your child is unconscious (NHS low blood sugar).
Can I use this page instead of asking the diabetes team?
No. Numbers, food and any change to insulin are the team's to set.
Keep going
Where to Go From Here
Three places to go next, depending on what is on your mind.
Was your child ill this week?
A cautious play, light play or rest table for the first days back.
Read about playing after illnessPlaying on a hot day?
When it is too hot to play and what a hot-weather checklist looks like.
Read about hot-weather safetyTonight's five minutes
Write the coach note and the clinic questions.
Copy the five-line note, fill it in from your diabetes team's own plan, and put it in the football bag with the fast-acting carbohydrate.