Diabetes cuts across all age groups, and with 1.4 million new diagnoses every year, it is one of the nation’s top health concerns. It deeply affects entire families, especially when a child is diagnosed, and childhood cases of Type 1 diabetes have been increasing over the past several years.

November is Diabetes Awareness Month, a time to focus on understanding diabetes and how to manage it in our daily lives.

Here are some basic facts: Diabetes occurs when blood glucose, or sugar, is too high. Blood glucose is the main type of sugar found in blood and the body’s main source of energy.

Type 1 diabetes, which used to be called juvenile diabetes, happens when the body stops making insulin because its immune system has attacked and destroyed the cells that make insulin. For children in general, the chance of developing Type 1 diabetes by age 18 is about 1 in 300.

Type 2, once known as adult-onset diabetes, can affect people at any age, including children, and is the most common form of the disease. It usually begins with insulin resistance — a condition resulting when fat, muscle and liver cells fail to use insulin to carry glucose into the body’s cells to use for energy. As a result, the body seeks insulin to help glucose enter cells. In gestational diabetes, some pregnant women make hormones that can lead to insulin resistance.

Unmanaged diabetes can lead to serious complications like heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and premature death, so those with diabetes need a wellness plan to help manage the condition and in some cases prevent it from worsening.

Healthy food choices and physical activity are critical in managing diabetes, and it’s important for family members to get involved.

Healthy eating habits can include eating smaller portions and consuming less fat and salt, eating more whole-grain fiber, along with fruits and vegetables, and avoiding foods that are high in sugar.

These habits help the body feel better and keep blood glucose levels in the target range. The next step is to engage in moderate-intensity physical activity at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week.

Family activities could include biking, outdoor games like basketball, yard work (raking and bagging leaves or pushing a lawnmower), or a family walk.

Emphasize physical activities that you enjoy. The more fun you have, the more likely you will be to do it each day.

Thanks to constantly improving treatment, people with diabetes are living longer, with a better quality of life. If you or a loved one has diabetes, a few right choices are the key to health.

Dr. Lubna Maruf, M.D., is medical director of QualChoice Health Insurance in Little Rock.