Dietary Considerations For The Diabetic Child
An underlying cause of type 2 diabetes is obesity.
This does not mean that you have to be obese to contract the disease, simply that most are.
It follows therefore, that the first considerations towards diet, is for the diabetic child to lose weight.
Unfortunately, there is no cure for diabetes, but certain steps such as exercise and diet, together with regular monitoring of blood sugar levels, can help prevent the onset of long term health complications.
The support group around the child, usually the child's family, may find that they have to adjust their diet as well, to remove temptation room the diabetic child.
However, a low fat, low sugar diet is of benefit to both diabetics and those who don't have the disease, so this may be a positive step for all concerned.
By involving themselves with their child's diet, parents are both learning for themselves and teaching their child what kinds of foods are beneficial and which are not, thus educating their child from an early age as to what they should and should not eat.
Keeping a healthy diet, and the ingredients that make up a healthy diet, can have positive effects on the whole family, as well as the diabetic child for whom it is vital.
In addition, the fact that the child may be forced by peer pressure at school to eat certain foods that they should not, means that if those types of food are also available at home your child is going to have real problems eating healthily.
There are strategies that the child can use at school to appear "normal" to other children without compromising too much on their diet.
Blood sugar is lowered during exercise (most of the time).
A diabetic child should be encouraged to take up a sport, which will also have other health benefits in terms of general fitness.
In short, a diabetic child faces challenges that they may not even be aware of at an early age.
It is therefore vital that parents take an active and on going interest in their child, particularly when it comes to those times when the child is not at home: at school for example.
Finally, no matter how careful and prepared one may be, it is very important that the school is aware of the child's diabetes, and that staff are trained to know what to do in the event of an emergency - a hypoglycaemic event for example.
This does not mean that you have to be obese to contract the disease, simply that most are.
It follows therefore, that the first considerations towards diet, is for the diabetic child to lose weight.
Unfortunately, there is no cure for diabetes, but certain steps such as exercise and diet, together with regular monitoring of blood sugar levels, can help prevent the onset of long term health complications.
The support group around the child, usually the child's family, may find that they have to adjust their diet as well, to remove temptation room the diabetic child.
However, a low fat, low sugar diet is of benefit to both diabetics and those who don't have the disease, so this may be a positive step for all concerned.
By involving themselves with their child's diet, parents are both learning for themselves and teaching their child what kinds of foods are beneficial and which are not, thus educating their child from an early age as to what they should and should not eat.
Keeping a healthy diet, and the ingredients that make up a healthy diet, can have positive effects on the whole family, as well as the diabetic child for whom it is vital.
In addition, the fact that the child may be forced by peer pressure at school to eat certain foods that they should not, means that if those types of food are also available at home your child is going to have real problems eating healthily.
There are strategies that the child can use at school to appear "normal" to other children without compromising too much on their diet.
Blood sugar is lowered during exercise (most of the time).
A diabetic child should be encouraged to take up a sport, which will also have other health benefits in terms of general fitness.
In short, a diabetic child faces challenges that they may not even be aware of at an early age.
It is therefore vital that parents take an active and on going interest in their child, particularly when it comes to those times when the child is not at home: at school for example.
Finally, no matter how careful and prepared one may be, it is very important that the school is aware of the child's diabetes, and that staff are trained to know what to do in the event of an emergency - a hypoglycaemic event for example.
Source...