Grant: Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Diabetes is one of the most common chronic conditions in children; in Canada nearly 30, 000 children are affected by this life-threatening disease. Type one diabetes is an autoimmune condition that requires careful management, including frequent monitoring of blood glucose levels and lifelong insulin therapy. Regular physical activity is recommended for better blood glucose control, but fear of hypoglycemia (alarmingly low blood glucose levels) limits physical activity in children with type one diabetes. Few interventions to date have managed to meaningfully increase physical activity in children with diabetes. With this project, I will develop and then test a virtual physical activity intervention. The project will take place in the BC Interior, including rural and remote communities. It will be the first physical activity intervention for children with type one diabetes in this region. The virtual format will improve participation for families as it eliminates the need to travel. The "Active Steps" project consists of five 45-minte virtual sessions over 12-weeks, addressing type one diabetes related physical activity challenges. Participants will receive workbooks which they will work through with the physical activity counsellor during the sessions. They will also set their own activity goals and monitor them using a device called the Fitbit Versa 4. To see if the program is doable, we will look at how many kids join, how many finish and how well the virtual program works. We will also interview the children and their parents to see if they enjoyed the program. A special device will be used to measure the children's physical activity before and after the sessions. This study is an important first step to ultimately inform a larger randomized controlled trial that will aim to demonstrate the effectiveness of the intervention to increase physical activity.