Policy gaps in type 1 diabetes: A UK audit of National Governing Bodies

National Governing Bodies (NGBs) for sport in the United Kingdom (UK) are responsible for setting standards and ensuring safe, inclusive participation for all, including people with type 1 diabetes (T1D). This audit systematically assessed the extent and quality of policy provision among UK-based NGBs, focusing on support for athletes with T1D. The findings were compared with epilepsy, asthma and allergies to evaluate equity and consistency in safeguarding and inclusion practices.

A systematic policy audit of UK sport NGBs to assess the presence and content of policies addressing athletes with T1D, asthma, epilepsy and allergies. Policy documents were accessed through public materials on NGB websites. NGBs were contacted by email to confirm the existence of relevant policies and to request any documents not currently included on their website. Sports were included if their NGB had a publicly accessible website.

Of 185 NGBs, 20 (11%) had policy documents mentioning diabetes, 14 (7.7%) asthma, 12 (6.6%) epilepsy and 4 (2.2%) allergies. Of the 20 NGBs with documents mentioning diabetes, only 4 had dedicated diabetes policies. The remaining 16 referred to diabetes in broader documents.

Despite increasing emphasis on inclusion in sport, few NGBs have clear policies to support individuals with diabetes. This is also the case for asthma, epilepsy and allergies. We recommend the development of national policies for diabetes, which can be adapted by individual sporting bodies.