The principles of the dietary management of type 1 and type 2 diabetes are similar.
Your dietitian can give you more details and advice that's right for your child or young person.
Foods that are high in fat, sugar and salt are for occasional treats only - don't give these as regular snacks. 'Treat' foods are potato chips, corn snacks, muesli bars, chocolate, sweets, cakes, sweet biscuits, pies and pastries.
A low fat diet is not recommended for children under the age of 2 years.
Learning how to work out the amount of carbohydrate from foods is important for the management of type 1 diabetes. Amongst the 3 main nutrients (carbohydrate, protein and fat) in food, carbohydrate has the most direct effect on blood glucose levels.
Understanding how to count carbohydrate will help your child to increase food choices and flexibility while maintaining blood glucose levels within the target range. There are 2 common ways to count carbohydrate:
A carbohydrate portion is a given serving of food which contains approximately the same amount of carbohydrate.
One portion of carbohydrate contains 15 grams of carbohydrate.
The dietitian will advise you on the appropriate amount of carbohydrate portion your child needs for each meal and snack. The choices of carbohydrate foods can be changed on different days as long as the total carbohydrate portions for each meal and snack is relatively consistent every day.
This is a method to count the total grams of carbohydrate in meals and snacks. A gram (g) is a unit used in measuring foods.
You will count the grams of carbohydrate in each of the foods your child eats, and then add them all up to work out the total carbohydrate (g) for the meal or snack. Your child's meal plan will specify the amount of carbohydrate needed for each meal or snack.
This method provides a more precise method of calculating carbohydrate in foods. Children or young people who are on insulin pumps need to count carbohydrates. Those who are on more intensive insulin regimes such as multiple daily injections benefit from this method.
The treatment goal for type 2 diabetes is to normalise blood glucose as much as possible. Once your child or young person achieves optimal blood glucose control, you also need to target:
First line therapy is weight reduction by making the following changes:
It is very important to involve the whole family/whānau in supporting your young person making healthy lifestyle changes.
The content on this page has been approved by the Clinical Network for Children and Young People with Diabetes, Paediatric Society of New Zealand.
This page last reviewed 05 December 2022.
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