TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — Bayer Diabetes Care has introduced the Didget blood glucose monitoring system for children.

The company said Monday that the Didget meter is the only blood glucose monitor that connects directly to Nintendo DS and DS Lite gaming systems to help kids manage a lifelong disease by rewarding them for building consistent testing habits and meeting personalized blood glucose target ranges.

Bayer reported that Didget is now available in the United States through cvs.com, drugstore.com and walgreens.com.

"As the first meter truly designed with kids in mind, the Didget meter can transform a child’s blood sugar testing experience from something they have to do into something they want to do," commented Dr. Larry Deeb, pediatric endocrinologist and medical director for the Diabetes Center at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital in Florida and a paid consultant for Bayer. "Regular blood sugar testing is critical for diabetes management and one of the biggest challenges facing parents of kids with diabetes is motivating their kids to develop good testing habits. Bayer’s Didget meter adds an element of fun and rewards to the routine of testing and, by doing so, helps ease that parent/child tension that testing often creates."

Intended for children ages 4 to 14, the Didget meter positively reinforces consistent blood glucose testing habits by awarding points that kids can use to unlock new game levels and customize their gaming experience, according to Bayer. The device offers two testing levels, Basic and Advanced. It comes with "Knock ‘Em Downs: World’s Fair" that includes a full length adventure game and mini game arcade. The meter will connect to Bayer’s Didget World Web community, which the company said is coming soon, where kids can spend points that they earn from consistent monitoring practices and create their own page.

The Didget meter, which carries a suggested retail price of $74.99, is based on Bayer’s Contour system and uses the same technology and test strips, providing the same easy accuracy, No Coding technology, no interference with maltose, galactose and oxygen and automatic correction for hematocrit and many common interfering substances, according to the company.

Nick Jonas of the musical group The Jonas Brothers, a paid spokesman and an actual user of Bayer’s Countour USB meter, said in a statement, "I know firsthand how important it is for kids to test their blood sugar regularly. Using Bayer’s Didget meter is a cool and fun way for kids to do that. The Didget meter uses the same test strips as the Contour meter, the strips I rely on everyday."