How is it treated?
The key to treating diabetes is
to keep your child’s blood sugar levels within a target range. To do
this:
- Keep track of your child’s blood sugar
levels. This will help you and your child learn how different foods and
activities affect his or her blood sugar. Your doctor can teach you and your
child how to do this.
- Teach your child to make healthy food
choices.
- Help your child to eat about the same
amount of
at each meal. This helps keep your
child’s blood sugar steady. Carbohydrate affects blood sugar more than other
nutrients. It is found in sugar and sweets, grains, fruit, starchy vegetables,
and milk and yogurt.
- Talk to your doctor, a diabetes educator, or a dietitian
about an eating plan that will work for your child. There are many ways to
manage how much and when your child eats.
- Help your child stay active. Your child does
not have to start a strict exercise program, but being more active can help
control blood sugar. For example, your child could play outside with friends,
take walks with family members, or take part in sports.
- Set a good
example. It will be easier for your child if the rest of the family also eats
well and gets regular exercise. This may also reduce the risk that other family
members will get the disease.
- If your child needs medicine for
diabetes, make sure that he or she takes it as prescribed.
You play a major role in helping your child take charge
of his or her diabetes care. Let your child do as much of the care as possible.
At the same time, give your child the support and guidance he or she needs.
The longer a person has diabetes, the more likely he or she is to
have problems, such as diseases of the eyes, heart, blood vessels, nerves, and
kidneys. But if your child can control his or her blood sugar levels every day,
it may help to delay the start of or prevent some of these problems later
on.
Even when you are careful and do all the right things, your
child can have problems with high or low blood sugar. It is important to know
what signs to look for and what to do if this happens.
Can type 2 diabetes be prevented?
Helping your
child stay at a healthy weight and get regular exercise can help prevent type 2
diabetes.