Diabetes in Sport

Tom Collins Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bloore]

I thank my hon. Friend for a very articulate summary of where we are. We cannot risk losing these athletes from the system—or even risk losing the people who want to play sport at a grassroots level, just to keep fit and keep up friendships.

The stories that I have told today expose a systemic failure: many coaches, schools, and sporting bodies are ill-equipped to support people with diabetes, creating unnecessary barriers to participation and enjoyment. Of 184 national governing bodies in sport, only 20 mention diabetes on their websites or in policy documents, and just four have specific policies to support people with diabetes. That is simply not good enough, especially as chronic health conditions become more common. We need national sports bodies to show leadership, and to work with healthcare professionals and organisations such as Breakthrough T1D and Diabetes UK on training coaches and volunteers and on providing clear, accessible policies.

[Tom Collins (Worcester) (Lab)]

Diabetes is a disability that is often hidden and not well understood, and people with it suffer from all the stigma that my hon. Friend has described so well. It is complex to manage, especially being metabolic, and especially in relation to sport, so listening to parents and families, and young people and others with diabetes, is vital. We have benefited in Worcester from the fantastic Warriors Foundation and the Chris Pennell rugby academy, and I have seen the incredible advantages they have brought for people with type 1 diabetes in our area. They have shown how sport can facilitate community, better awareness and better management of the condition for people with diabetes. Does my hon. Friend agree that in sport, diabetes should be managed at an elite level, so that there is a real opportunity for people with diabetes to own the condition and their sports performance?

[Chris Bloore]

I thank my hon. Friend and neighbour for his contribution. He is absolutely right. It is incredible how sport can be used to reach people and inform them about health conditions in a way that many other areas of our public policy cannot.

The Equality Act 2010 provides legal protection against discrimination but a gulf remains between policy and lived experience. People with diabetes—often a hidden disability, as my hon. Friend said—face ongoing discrimination and a lack of adjustments in schools, workplaces, leisure centres and community settings. Diabetes is a major public health crisis with far-reaching consequences. Physical activity can prevent complications, improve quality of life and reduce the burden on our NHS, where diabetes prescriptions account for 15% of total medication costs. Health inequality is stark. People from the most deprived areas are twice as likely to develop type 2 diabetes, and are less likely to have access to green space and safe affordable places to be active. We need targeted support for these communities to close this gap.