child with type 1

[vronnie]

Hi my daughter was diagnosed with type 1 in2009, she is not coping well with the food aspects and she wants to eat sweet things, her diet even though I try she not does grasp the concept that she needs to eat a little healthier even though I have tried and her uncle who is a nurse. does anyone else have the same problems with there children...

 

[Northerner]

Hi vronnie, welcome to the forum 🙂 How old is your daughter, and what insulin regime is she on? We have lots of parents here who will no doubt share their experiences with you. Many of them are also on the Children with Diabetes website, which you may also wish to check out. Personally, I found that I have gradually lost my 'sweet tooth' and will only have the occasional sweet thing now as part of a meal, or when hypo of course! Things are likely to be less straightforward for a child though, given the sugar culture we live in.

I'd also suggest getting hold of a copy of Type 1 Diabetes in Children, Adolescents and Young Adults by Ragnar Hanas, if you don't already own it - it covers practically everything you could think of regarding Type 1, and may help you to plan strategies for improving your daughter's diet and controlling her levels.

 

[Steff]

Hi vronnie and a warm welcome to the forum.

 

[Natalie123]

Hi and welcome! When I was younger I already had a healthy diet so I was lucky. Perhaps changing her diet slowly would help? Just find something else she likes and swap a sweet treat for a savory one. How old is your daughter?

She doesn't need to cut out all sweet foods, just think of them as treats. Also, sweet foods are best eaten after a meal to so that the uptake of the sugar is slowed down by the rest of the meal. Also she could eat sweet treats when she does exercise as she might need a snack to prevent hypos while doing exercise anyway so this might be a good time.

 

[Lizzzie]

Hi Vronnie

Loads of respect for children coping with type 1 - i got it at 26 and found it hard, but i'm always amazed on the whole how well kids just seem to adapt to needles, insulin and so on - is this what your daughter's doing?

Adapting to eating healthily is probably harder - although I just eat a normal balanced diet and certainly haven't cut sweet things out. If you feel that her diet wasn't normal and balanced to start with, then yes changes are probably helpful. And as people before me have said, strategic timing of sweet things (eg after a meal) is helpful, too.

Has she got siblings? Maybe they / you could adapt to a balanced diet too if you don't already. Making it a group effort could help her to feel less singled out.

My previous diabetic team had a dietician - is there a dietician you could talk to? Your gp could refer you or you may get automatically booked to see one.Definitely worth asking as they should have a wealth of ideas about this.

 

[gewatts]

Hi - welcome to the forum. My daughter is 7 and was diagnosed nearly 5 years ago. At first she was put on 2 mixed injections a day whcih was really hard and we had to be pretty strict with what she could and couldn't eat and she had to eat at certain times. She is now on MDI (multiple daily injections) and we carb count her meals. So if she wants something sweet, then she can - we just count the carbs and give her insulin accordingly. A lot of children are on insulin pumps but it seems to be a bit of a postcode lottery as to whether you can get one or not. We are looking at moving hospitals so that we can get a pump.

 

[Joann]

Hi Vronnie,

Welcome to the forum.
My son (11 years old and diagnosed seven months ago) said he misses being able to just go to the fridge or the cupboard and choose something without having to think about how many carbs it has or where his level is. Luckily he likes fruit and is so active he has to eat quite a few biscuits through the day to keep topped up so doesn't think he is missing out too much. It is hard as a mum to have to say no or yes but you have to do another injection!!

Hope things get better soon!

Joann