Lack of knowledge of diabetes among Arkansas elementary teachers - Diabetes

Nutrition Research Newsletter, Sept, 2002

More than 15.7 million Americans, 123,00 younger than age 20, have diabetes mellitus. Diagnosis of type 2 diabetes is increasing in children and adolescents. Arkansas ranks fifth among the 50 states in the incidence of diabetes.

While children are at school, teachers are the primary caretakers and thus can play a key role in the treatment of diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association, every school should have an adult trained to perform blood glucose monitoring, take appropriate actions when levels are outside the target range and test the urine for ketones, in a recent study published in JADA, the level of knowledge about diabetes mellitus among Arkansas public elementary school teachers was evaluated.

Elementary school teachers in Arkansas were surveyed to determine their knowledge of diabetes mellitus. A sample of 35 of the 75 counties in Arkansas were randomly selected and then one elementary school from each of the selected counties was randomly chosen to participate in the study. Another questionnaire was then distributed to these teachers. The questionnaire consisted of questions relating to symptoms and treatment of diabetes, about in-services attended and demographic data.

Four hundred and sixty-three teachers returned questionnaires. Forty three percent had been teaching for less than 10 years, while 6% had been teaching for more than 30 years. Seven percent of the teachers reported that they had a student with diabetes in their classroom, although 24% were unsure. Ninety percent indicated they had never received in-service training or prior education on diabetes mellitus; however, 79% reported they would like to receive educational material about the disease. Most of the teachers could identify the symptoms of diabetes, but only half knew the definition of hypoglycemia. No significance was noted between the number of years teaching and knowledge about diabetes.

Almost one fourth of the teachers were not aware if students with diabetes were in their classrooms. Although alarming, it is possible that the students or parents chose not to disclose the child's diabetes. However, these results suggest that teachers in Arkansas are poorly informed about diabetes and inadequately prepared to deal with insulin and hypoglycemia. These findings can and should assist registered dietitians and other nutrition professionals in the development of educational programs and materials to educate school personnel about the symptoms and treatment of diabetes in school-age children.

Mimi Gormanous, Alice Hunt, Janet Pope and Bonnie Gerald, Lack of Knowledge of Diabetes Among Arkansas Public Elementary Teachers: Implications for Dietitians, JADA 102(8): 1136-1138 (August 2002) [Address correspondence to Alice Hunt, PhD, LDN, RD, Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics, PO Box 3167 TS, Room 252 Carson Taylor Hall, Adams Blvd, School of Human Ecology, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA 71272]