Healthy Eating for Children With Diabetes

It's important for people with diabetes to learn how to read food labels and keep track of carbohydrates, protein, and fat. Eating too much sugar (a type of carbohydrate) can raise their blood sugars, and too much saturated fat can contribute to heart and blood vessel problems.

Learning how to make healthy choices and balance carbohydrates, protein, and fat can help children with diabetes keep their blood sugars in a healthy range.

Carbohydrates & Diabetes

People with diabetes need to pay special attention to carbohydrates (carbs), which raise blood sugar levels. After you eat, your body breaks down carbs into glucose (sugar).

The glucose goes into the bloodstream making the blood sugar level rise. Insulin is a hormone that helps get glucose into cells so it can be used as energy.

What to Know

Not all carbs are the same — some carb-containing foods are better than others. Whole-grain foods, fruits, and vegetables are great choices because they have fiber, vitamins, and other nutrients. Fiber slows the digestion and absorption of sugar and can help keep blood sugar levels in the healthy range. Candy, soda, and highly processed foods cause blood sugar levels to rise quickly because they break down easily and don’t have fiber to slow things down.

A meal that contains a balance of carbs (including fiber), protein, and healthy fats can slow digestion, help you feel full, and provide a variety of important nutrients. For example, a breakfast of peanut butter on a whole wheat English muffin with strawberries contains carbs, fiber, protein, and healthy fats. This meal will break down slower than a less-balanced breakfast of waffles with pancake syrup and canned fruit cocktail in heavy syrup (mostly carbs).

Meals that break down quickly may leave insulin still working after most nutrients are digested, possibly causing low blood sugar later.

Carb Counting: A Practical Skill to Use Every Day

Learning how to count carbs is a helpful skill to master, especially if your child takes insulin with each meal. When you know how many carbs are in the foods your child eats, you can match their insulin doses much better.

Registered dietitians are experts in helping kids and teens with diabetes balance carbs, proteins, and fats. They can tell you how many grams of carbs your child might need with meals and snacks depending on their age, size, activity level, and food preferences. When you work with your child’s registered dietitian, you’ll learn practical skills, including how to:

• count the number of carbs in the foods your child eats
• read food labels
• calculate the carbs for homemade recipes
• use online resources or an app (like Calorie King or MyFitness Pal) to find nutrition information
• try new ideas for healthy meals and snacks

More Tips for Eating Well

You can support your child to keep meals and snacks on track in many ways:

• Keep a food log.  If you want a dietitian to review what your child is eating, jot down what your child eats and when, the number of carbs, and blood sugar readings before eating. The log will help the care team decide if they need to adjust your child’s care plan.
• Save helpful resources on your phone or computer. Portion-size charts and lists of common foods with their carb counts can come in handy at home or when you’re out. Simply bookmark your favorite website or save a picture in your photos.
• Serve a variety of foods. Choose whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein, and healthy fats whenever possible.
• Try something new. Feel stuck planning meals? Visit recipe websites for easy and healthy ideas.
• Think about buying a digital food scale. This handy tool can help you calculate carbs, especially in fruits and snacks. When carb counts are more precise, you can match the right insulin doses more easily.
• Ask questions. Your child’s dietitian is your coach and resource. If you have any questions along the way, reach out to them.

It may take a little time to get used to making changes. But starting today will help your child to keep up with them into the future. And you’ll be putting your child on a healthy path for life.