Meal Planning for Children With Type 1 Diabetes

Every parent wants their child to have healthy eating habits. But when your child has type 1 diabetes, they require extra attention during meal times to keep them healthy. 

Understanding Insulin

The diagnosis of diabetes can be quite common in the U.S., which means you may have heard conversations about off-limit foods and how sweets should be avoided at all costs. However, before you start applying these rules to your child’s diet, it’s important to know what advice is appropriate for your diabetic child and what isn’t.

Diabetes is a disease in which your body is unable to convert the sugar or carbohydrates you eat into energy. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body is unable to produce insulin, while type 2 diabetes occurs when the body is no longer responding to the insulin that is being produced. Both forms of diabetes affect the body very differently and therefore require different treatment plans.

People living with type 1 diabetes have bodies that respond well to insulin, which means that they can generally eat whatever foods they choose. That being said, they are responsible for giving themselves the proper amount of insulin to break down their food, instead of the body doing it automatically. This is where meal planning comes into play.

It’s crucial that parents know how insulin works in the body, and how it isn’t working in their child with type 1 diabetes. This will help guide you when creating a meal plan for your child and understand the steps that need to be taken to keep your child healthy.

Counting Carbs

In order to make sure that your child gets the right amount of insulin, you also need to know how many carbs they are consuming. Keep in mind that the phrase “carb counting” can potentially have a negative connotation around it, so be sure to keep an open dialogue with your child about body positivity and body image. While carb counting is a necessary step in keeping your child healthy, the term should be used lightly.

Counting carbs is a lot easier than it might sound. The first step is to learn how to read food labels. Most prepackaged foods have the number of carbs right on the container. You might have to do a few calculations if the food contains dietary fiber or sugar alcohols, but this number is a reliable resource for finding this information.

Also, be aware of some of the misleading marketing claims that brands use to make you believe that their product is healthy. Low-fat items usually contain more sugar to aid in taste. Foods that have “no added sugar” may still have natural sugars that can cause blood sugar spikes. Never rely solely on these claims to determine where that food fits into your child’s diet.

Your child’s doctor or dietitian can help you create a plan to help you find the right amount of carbs for each meal, and they’ll also be able to give you resources to calculate the number of carbs in unlabeled foods. 

Getting the carbs correct is crucial in knowing how much insulin you need to give to your child. If you don’t give them enough, then their blood sugar will be too high. If you give them too much, their blood sugar could drop dangerously low. 

The Three Meal Planning Approaches

There are a few different types of meal plans for type 1 diabetes that your child’s doctor may recommend. These plans accommodate different lifestyles and dietary preferences and come with their own benefits and challenges to consider. 

The Exchange Meal Plan
This plan splits foods into six different categories; meat, vegetables, fruits, milk, fats, and starches. Your child will have a set number of servings for each category, and you’re able to swap choices from a list of foods that have a similar nutritional make-up. These lists are individualized and based on your child’s caloric needs.

The Consistent Carbohydrate Meal Plan
This plan focuses on matching your insulin dosage to the number of carbs that you eat, and is a bit simpler to follow than the exchange meal plan. Your child will have a set number of carbs to eat during meal times and will take insulin at specific times to regulate their blood sugar. While this plan is more rigid than the other two, it’s simple to follow, especially for younger children, and those who have a fairly consistent schedule.

The Carbohydrate Counting Meal Plan
This is a fairly common plan that people living with T1D use to manage their blood sugar and offers the most flexibility. Similar to the consistent carbohydrate plan, the carbohydrate counting plan also centers around matching the amount of insulin to the carbs eaten. However, insulin is given at mealtimes. This is a great option for teens and people who are unable to stick to a consistent eating schedule, or for those who use an insulin pump.

Your child’s doctor and dietitian will work with you to figure out which of these three plans will work best for your situation. 

Plan Ahead

Regardless of which plan your child follows, the best way to manage your child’s blood sugar is to be prepared. This starts at the grocery store. Before you go to the store, make a list that includes healthy foods and snacks that fit within your child’s meal plan. 

You also want to keep low-carb snacks available, such as cucumbers, nuts, and other foods that don’t cause blood sugar spikes. At the same time, you should also keep emergency snacks on hand for when your child’s sugar drops too low. Items like orange juice, dried fruit, or small candies are great resources to have on hand.

If your child eats their meals at the same time every day, try to plan your daily schedule around these times so that you give yourself enough time to have their meals ready for them. The more time you spend preparing for meals beforehand, the less worry you will have when it’s time to eat.

Include The Family

Living with type 1 diabetes can leave your child feeling different from their siblings and others around them. They may feel embarrassed about having so much attention on them and their eating habits.

A great way to alleviate some of these feelings is to get the whole family involved in the health journey. It’s just as important that your whole family lives a healthy lifestyle, so try to create rules that apply to everyone.

For example, you can make all of your children avoid sugary drinks, or have everyone’s default snacks be low in carbs. Focus on making everyone’s meals high in fiber and low in simple carbs. If your child with T1D has to eat meals at a specific time, then have the whole family follow this schedule as well. Not only will this help your child with T1D feel less alone, but it can also help keep the rest of your family stay healthy and even keep other serious diseases, like type 2 diabetes and heart disease, out of their future.

The goal of managing type 1 diabetes is to create a meal plan that works around your child’s life, not the other way around. With a little knowledge, preparation, and commitment from you and the whole family, your child can live a healthy, happy life.