Nutrition Tips for Diabetes in Children: Care Instructions

Overview

When your child has diabetes, it's very important to keep your child's blood sugar in their target range. This means that you need to pay attention to how often and how much your child eats certain foods. But your child can still eat what your family eats. This includes occasional sweets and other favorites.

Make sure that your child eats a variety of foods. Follow your child's meal plan to know how much carbohydrate your child needs for meals and snacks. Carbohydrate raises blood sugar more than any other nutrient. It's found in sugar, breads, and cereals. It's also found in fruit, starchy vegetables like potatoes and corn, milk, and yogurt.

You may want to plan your child's meals and snacks with a dietitian or diabetes educator. They can help you choose the best foods and help with weight loss, if that's a goal. There are lots of things you can do to help your child enjoy meals and stay healthy.

Follow-up care is a key part of your child's treatment and safety. Be sure to make and go to all appointments, and call your doctor if your child is having problems. It's also a good idea to know your child's test results and keep a list of the medicines your child takes.

How can you care for your child at home?

  • Learn which foods have carbohydrate (carbs). And learn how much is okay for your child. A dietitian or diabetes educator can help you and your child keep track of carbs.
  • Follow your child's meal plan to know how much carbohydrate your child needs for meals and snacks.
  • If your child needs mealtime insulin, you might be taught to adjust the amount of insulin needed to cover the amount of carbohydrate your child eats.
  • Plan meals to include a variety of foods. This includes grains, fruit, vegetables, dairy, and protein foods.
  • Try using the plate method to plan your child's meals. It's an easy way to make sure that your child has a balanced meal. Divide your child's plate by types of foods. Place non-starchy vegetables on half the plate, protein foods on a fourth of the plate, and carbohydrate foods on the final fourth of the plate.
  • Talk to your dietitian or diabetes educator about ways to add limited sweets. Your child can eat sweets once in a while. But you need to count the amount of carbs as part the daily amount.
  • Plan meals to include foods that contain some protein, fat, and fiber. These foods don't raise blood sugar as much as carbohydrates do.

When your child eats out

  • It's a good idea for you and your child to learn to estimate the serving sizes of foods that have carbohydrate. If you measure food at home, it will be easier to estimate the amount in a serving of restaurant food.
  • If the meal you order for your child has too much carbohydrate (such as potatoes, corn, or baked beans), ask to have a low-carbohydrate food instead. Ask for a salad or green vegetables.
  • If your child uses insulin, check your child's blood sugar before and after eating out. This can help you and your child plan how much to eat in the future.

Where can you learn more?

Go to https://www.healthwise.net/patientEd

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