Tongue on the side of his cheek, 8-year-old Ken Blocker jumped up and gripped the neon-colored rock formation at Memphis Rox Tuesday morning, before jumping off to grab another.

Had it not been for their matching T-shirts, onlookers wouldn’t know the difference between kids climbing recreationally and kids climbing as part of Camp Day2Day, a free diabetes camp for ages 7-16.

The nonprofit, pay-what-you-can rock climbing gym is the first stop of a weeklong camp, sponsored by Baptist Memorial Health Care in partnership with the American Diabetes Association that teaches kids how to manage their disease.

While most camps zero in on one type of diabetes, Camp Day2Day brings together kids who are at risk for diabetes, pre-diabetic and who have Type 1 diabetes, a chronic autoimmune condition in which the body produces little to no insulin, and Type 2 diabetes, a resistance to insulin that can oftentimes be prevented by changes in weight, diet and exercise.

“The kids with diabetes Type 1, they already know – they live it every day,” said Dr. Ana Karabell, an endocrinologist with Baptist Medical Group’s The Endocrine Clinic. “Even if they are just recently diagnosed, they already understand they need insulin every time they eat, and need insulin to be alive. Most of these kids are pretty mature.”

It is Blocker's second year attending Camp Day2Day. He likes the field trips and playing basketball the most, but also agrees “it’s a good place to learn” about diabetes.

“You can make new stuff (crafts), take care of yourself and learn new stuff (about diabetes),” adds Blocker’s 9-year-old friend, Xandy Martinez.

Seeing kids with Type 1 diabetes, who must regulate their body’s blood sugar through insulin injections, can be informative for the kids who are at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

“As a hybrid program, kids come together and learn from one another in a supportive environment,” said camp director Erin Callahan, who also serves as director of youth and family initiatives for the American Diabetes Association.

Callahan was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 6. She did not know anyone else in her family, at her school or in her community who had diabetes.

“It was very isolating, and very demanding,” she said. “Every decision you make affects your blood sugar – Have you eaten? Are you going to exercise? Bringing kids into an environment where they see others who have to go through that decreases the isolation of living with diabetes.”

More than 60 kids registered for this year’s camp, more than any other year since the program began in 2016.

The rate of new diagnosed cases of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in those under the age of 20 is on the rise, according to the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth study, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.

From 2002 to 2012, the rate of new diagnosed cases of Type 1 diabetes in youth increased by 1.8% each year, while the rate of new diagnosed cases of Type 2 diabetes increased even more rapidly at 4.8% each year.

“This is really important from a community health outreach standpoint,” said Ann Marie Wallace, senior community outreach coordinator with Baptist Memorial Health Care. “If you look at our (Community Health Assessment) diabetes, cancer, they are all up there, but when you think about youth, they are the generation of the future. Providing free programming that helps youth and their families deal with diabetes is mandatory.”

Under the supervision of medical professionals and diabetes experts, campgoers are taught how to independently navigate how the food they eat affects their glucose levels, in between camp activities.

“After we eat, we teach them to calculate how much carbohydrates they ate,” Karabell said. “They get a calculator and count how many carbs were in the beans or the bread and they calculate their insulin dose.”

The independent calculations are double-checked by a counselor and when the kids get it right, everyone celebrates, Karabell said.

Medical expenses for those with diabetes is approximately 2.3 times higher than those who do not have diabetes.

The total direct medical expenses for diagnosed diabetes in Tennessee was estimated at $5.2 billion in 2017, according to the American Diabetes Association.

“Families with four kids cannot afford summer camp,” Karabell said. “These programs allow families to send kids (with diabetes) to a camp that allows them to just be kids.”

At a cost of about $1,500 per child, Baptist invests about $90,000 to sponsor the camp each year. The health care system also relies on volunteers to staff the camp and donations for food, supplies and facilities.

Baptist College of Health Sciences currently hosts the camp; Kroger and Morrison Healthcare provide grants for food, and Church Health provides fitness instruction.

“We need companies, law firms to sponsor, so I can have a bigger facility,” Karabell said. “So instead of having just 42 or 52 (campgoers), I can have 200.”

Camp Day2Day will continue this week with field trips to CLOUD901, My Big Backyard at Memphis Botanic Garden and Crosstown Concourse.