For the past two months, my four and a half year old daughter has been showing many of the symptoms of diabetes (bad breath, tiredness, lack of appetite, weight loss, bed-wetting, depression, etc.). She is normally a very happy, outgoing, and talkative child. I took her to our doctor who did a urine test for diabetes, it came up negative. He said that they only do blood tests in adults. Is this correct? If so, are urine tests accurate? As far as I know there is not a family history of diabetes. We eat well, are not overweight, and exercise on a daily basis. I am incredibly concerned about the changes in my daughter.

The clinical picture that you describe does not sound entirely typical of diabetes. Just the same, I think that you should ask your daughter’s doctor to do a fasting blood sugar because a level over 110 mg/dl [6.1 mmol/L] would justify further testing. Whilst a lower level would be an encouragement to look elsewhere for an explanation of the symptoms, he/she is also correct to point out that stress alone in a small child may cause this much of a rise in fasting blood sugar. However, if the fasting blood sugar was elevated you might ask further about an antibody test which would provide more definitive reassurance. A single negative urine test does not exclude diabetes, especially if the specimen is dilute or taken after a period without food.

DOB