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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Ibnosina Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences 2019; 11(02): 47-56
DOI: 10.4103/ijmbs.ijmbs_21_19
Review Article

Ramadan fasting and diabetes in adolescents and children: A narrative review

Salem Beshyah
1   Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Abu Dhabi
2   Department of Medicine, Dubai Medical College, Dubai, UAE
,
Abdelhadi Habeb
3   Department of Pediatrics, Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz Hospital for National Guard, Madinah, KSA
,
Asma Deeb
4   Department of Pediatric Endocrinology, Mafraq Hospital, Abu Dhabi
,
Nancy Elbarbary
5   Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
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Although children in general and patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus, in particular, are exempted from fasting during Ramadan, many elect to observe the fast. There is a sizeable amount of opinion and research data that warrants revisiting. This is a narrative nonsystematic review to explore the views and supporting data on Ramadan fasting and to examine the safety of fasting and its impact on diabetes control and management in children and adolescents. The key areas covered include epidemiology, the physiology of fasting, risk stratification, counseling strategy, nutrition advice, insulin therapy adjustment with a particular focus on multiple injection regimen, and insulin pump therapy. Findings from various studies and expert opinions were appraised and presented to illustrate points of agreements and differences. This review should enhance knowledge and form the basis to clear some doubts and differences of opinions surrounding the issue of diabetes and Ramadan fasting in young people. It should also empower healthcare professionals to develop consensus based on the most up-to-date advice and the best possible support to patients and families regarding fasting during Ramadan.

Key-words:

Adolescents - children - diet - fasting - hyperglycemia - hypoglycemia - insulin - metabolism - Ramadan - technology - type 1 diabetes

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.




Publication History

Received: 24 March 2019

Accepted: 14 April 2019

Article published online:
07 July 2022

© 2019. The Libyan Authority of Scientific Research and Technologyand the Libyan Biotechnology Research Center. All rights reserved. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License,permitting copying and reproductionso long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, oradapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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