Nutrition Guidelines for Kids with Diabetes

Below are the following nutrition guidelines as of 2000 for children age 3 and older based on the United States Department of Agriculture Food Guide Pyramid.

• 6 to 11 servings per day from the bread, cereal, rice, and pasta food group
  1 serving = 1 slice of bread, 1/2 cup cooked rice or pasta, 1 ounce cold cereal, 1/2 bagel, or 1/2 English muffin
 
• 3 to 5 servings per day from the vegetable group
  1 serving = 1/2 cup raw or cooked chopped vegetables or 1 cup raw leafy vegetables
 
• 2 to 4 servings per day from the fruit group
  1 serving = 1 piece of medium-size fruit, 1/2 cup no sugar added canned fruit, or 1/2 cup no sugar added fruit juice
 
• 2 to 3 servings per day from the milk group
  1 serving = 1 cup milk (check with your child's doctor whether this should be regular milk, 2% fat, 1% fat, or non-fat milk), 1 cup low-fat yogurt, or 1 1/2 to 2 ounces cheese
 
• 2 to 3 servings of protein: meat, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts
  1 serving = 2 to 3 ounces of lean meat, poultry, or fish; 1/2 cup cooked beans or lentils; 1 egg, or 2 tablespoons peanut butter
 
• fats, oils, and sweets to be eaten sparingly
  aim for a daily total intake of 30% or less total calories from fat, 10% or less of which may be saturated fat

Sugars, including honey, corn syrup, maple syrup, etc, should be restricted to 1 teaspoon sugar per serving and eaten only occasionally as they are often accompanied by fat and don't provide vitamins and minerals.

 

To find out more information about suggested servings sizes for kids with diabetes, talk to your child's registered dietitian. Monitoring what your child eats along with managing his or her blood glucose levels can help your child establish healthy habits that will last a lifetime.

 

Source: http://www.diabeticlifestyle.com/eating-well/diabetes-friendly-recipes-kids-comfort-foods

 



Diabetes In Brief for Kids

Symptoms Of Diabetes In Children - Could Your Child Be At Risk?

When you look at a person with diabetes, you'd never know it, they look healthy on the outside.

 

But it's what you don't see that is so bad.
 
The disease elevates the amount of glucose (sugar) in the blood. As blood sugars remain high, over time, complications such as blindness, kidney failure, amputations, heart disease, and severe nerve damage can occur.
 
The quality of your child's life may depend on being able to recognize the symptoms of diabetes in children.
 
Diabetes in children has reached almost epidemic proportions. The incidence of this chronic and sometimes deadly disease is predicted to continue to rise.
 
Unfortunately for parents, sometimes it can be hard to identify the symptoms of diabetes in children.
 
Read the list below and you'll understand why often symptoms of diabetes aren't recognized early.
When they are, doctors can help immediately with treatment and help you to maintain and control the diabetes.
 
Symptoms of diabetes in children and adults are:
o Frequent thirst - You may just be thinking your child drinks a lot.
o Frequent infections - Many consider this just a part of childhood.
o Blurred Vision - Your child may not tell you as the blurred vision can come and go. It's not always constant.
o Cuts/bruises that are slow to heal - It's easy to think the injury was just a "bad one" and it's taking longer to heal.
o Tingling/numbness in hands or feet - Again you child may not notice or tell you about it as it's not usually constant.
o Frequent urination - Many just think it comes from drinking more.
o Extreme hunger - Often parents think their child is going through a "growth spurt" and just requires more food.
o Unusual weight loss - This symptom does normally make parents concerned. If the child has been overweight, parents sometimes think .....Great, the weight is finally coming off.
o Irritability - Can often be labeled as parent/child confrontations. Also many parents of teens just think it's a normal part of the teenage years.

You won't see all of this at once. You will notice one of them, then a month or two later something else...
 
What To Do If You See Symptoms Of Diabetes In Children
Get your child tested for diabetes IMMEDIATELY. Don't wait. The test is simple and painless. The longer you wait the more difficult the disease can be to control.
 
These symptoms may not even be noticed until the disease in is full force. It's important to learn to recognize these symptoms. With early detection children with type 2 diabetes can learn to control the disease with diet and exercise.
 
Left untreated the symptoms of diabetes in children results in more defined and difficult treatment. Medications and insulin must often be used to control diabetes. Diabetes is a disease that should not be taken lightly.
 
There are two types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2.
Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body no longer produces insulin.
Type 2, the most common type of diabetes occurs when the body develops a resistance to insulin, or does not produce enough insulin. Type 2 diabetes, once labeled adult onset diabetes, has become more and more prevalent in children.
 
Research has documented two primary factors contributing to the rise in type 2 diabetes in children.
 
The factors are: 1) children today are more inactive, and 2) unhealthy diets in children. Today's lifestyle of fast-food meals, TV, computers, and hand-held games has put many at risk of developing symptoms of diabetes in children.
 
Diabetes in children is a serious threat. Take control of your child's future today. Make sure they have a healthy diet including fresh fruits and vegetables. Keep your children active. They won't be deprived if they don't spend hours a day watching TV or playing computerized games. You could be saving their life. You may get a few weird looks and complaints, but what's that compared to the health of your child?
 

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Signs of Diabetes in Kids

The symptoms of diabetes may show up differently in the case of adults and children. The demonstration of the symptoms may differ according to its type. The signs of diabetes may come up more rapidly in the case of children and infants compared to adults. In the case of children and infants suffering from diabetes type 1- beta cells are destroyed at a greater pace. Children are usually found affected with ketoacidosis- a symptom of diabetes. In some other cases, diagnosis reports may indicate ketoacidosis or hyperglycemia during stress or infection.

Kids suffering from diabetes type 2 are usually obese or overweight. Some children may have family background of diabetes. Such kids generally show physical symptoms of insulin resistance such as dark patches of skin which is medically known as acanthosis nigricans. The symptoms of diabetes type 1 are different from diabetes type 2. The signs of diabetes in children often develop rapidly within a span of few weeks. Kids suffering from diabetes type1 may show the symptoms such as:

Frequent urination and increase in thirst: Due to excessive deposition of sugar in the bloodstream- blood cells extracts out fluid from the tissues. Excessive loss of fluid from the tissues and blood vessels can cause the child to feel thirsty. Thus kids may desire to drink more water. Since kids tend to drink more water, they frequently rush to washroom.

Extreme hunger/ increase in appetite: In such conditions, the child may often demand for extra food. They will complain about extreme hunger. Many times they will inform you that their hunger is not satisfied even after consuming food. Since the glucose obtained from food does not enter cells, but stays back in bloodstream and disturbs the immune system. This leads to loss of immense energy and shrinks the energy, which triggers extreme hunger in children.

Sudden weight loss: You may witness explained weight loss in kids - even after continuous consumption of food. Weight loss is caused due to insufficient supply of energy foods in their diet. Hence, they draw energy from reserved storage of fats. Excessive loss of body weight will cause a child to experience extreme tiredness and weakness. This will make your immune system weak, which will further invite numerous infections.

Extreme weakness: Due to insufficient supply of energy food, the child will experience lots of tiredness and weakness.

Yeast infection: Diabetes type 1 in babies also welcomes yeast infection. This may develop rashes on their skin. It is necessary to feed children with nutritional diet and make them drink plenty of water. They should drink at least ten to twelve glass of water in the entire day.

Blurred vision: The decrease in the level of fluid and blood from eye tissues will create difficulty with vision. The child is unable to see or may witness double objects.

Children are often not aware of various diseases and their symptoms. It is very necessary for parents to notice abnormalities in the child's health. Parents should inform about the importance of good health. As soon as their child shows the above mentioned signs of diabetes, immediately seek a medical attention.

Please check my blog at signs of diabetes

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