A series of health education activities were held Sunday for children with diabetes to address the importance of self-monitoring of blood sugar levels and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, the organizers said that day. Fifty families with type 1 diabetic children were invited by the Taiwan Association for Diabetic Children (TADC) to learn more about diabetes management through interactive dramas, games, exercises and lectures, said TADC Director- General Lo Fu-sung. 'There are 400 to 500 new cases of juvenile diabetes, or type 1 diabetes, detected in Taiwan each year, ' said Lo, who is also a pediatric doctor at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Linkou. 'Regular checking of blood sugar levels is vital for preventing the development of diabetic complications,' he said. TADC Secretary-General Wu Chih-ching noted that child patients are different from adults in that children usually do not understand the severity of the problem and fail to get medical treatment. Speaking from her own experience, Wu said that her son, diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 6, used to run around the house four to five times a day whenever it was time to prick his finger for a drop of blood. 'I had to warn him: If you want to live, you have to do this,' she said. One female patient who has struggled with diabetes since the age of 10, said that 'little kids are afraid of needles but they have parents to look after them. When older, teenagers skip blood monitoring because they don't want to be labeled as freaks by their classmates.' The patient, surnamed Lai, developed retinal deterioration and kidney illness at the age of 24 because of her carelessness in monitoring her blood sugar levels and maintaining a healthy lifestyle over the years. 'We hope that all children, with or without diabetes, can learn more about the disease, because there is a chance they could meet a diabetic friend at some point in their lives, ' said Wu, who also complained that there is not enough information available about diabetes. 