Has your child been diagnosed with diabetes? As a parent, it is your responsibility to help your child adopt a healthier lifestyle. Read this article to learn how you can help your diabetic child.
Diabetes can be caused by a unhealthy lifestyle. Do you often take your family to fast food restaurants? How often do you or your children exercise? If your child has diabetes, chances are your whole family does not have a healthy lifestyle. You need to start changing together so that your diabetic child does not have to struggle with living at a different pace than everybody else. Besides, your child cannot adopt a healthier lifestyle if you are not here to cook balanced meals or drive them to soccer practice so they can get some exercise.
Talk to your child about diabetes, and do the best you can to explain what causes sugar levels to spike and why it is important to keep them down. Going to a doctor who specializes in treating diabetic in children is a good idea if you are unable to answer your child’s questions. You also need to teach your child how to test their sugar levels and do an insulin injection. Your doctor will demonstrate the whole process to you and your child, but you will have to repeat it many times to make sure your child does it properly.
Encourage your child to make some healthy nutritional choices. Meeting with a nutritionist could be a great way to learn how to prepare a balanced meal. Do your best to cook healthy meals as much as possible, but try finding some alternatives to cooking so that your child can be more independent and prepare food themselves. A whole grain sandwich with some raw vegetables and fresh lean meat is delicious and very easy to make. Introduce your child to new foods; make sure they eat plenty of lean meats, nuts, legumes, whole grains, and fruits and vegetables.
You also need to encourage your child to exercise, especially if they are overweight. Do not design an entire fitness program for your child. This is a good solution for an adult, but a child needs be active and have fun instead of following a workout program. You should introduce your child to new sports and play outside together. Perhaps you could get your child to join a local team to exercise while having fun. Keep in mind that losing weight is much easier for a child than an adult. Your child will have a healthy weight only a few months after adopting a healthier diet and exercising regularly.
As your child grows up, you need to give them more responsibilities. It is normal for you to remind your child to check their sugar levels when they are young enough to forget, but you need to start trusting your child with these responsibilities. Let them prepare their lunch and snacks for their day at school, and stop reminding them to bring their test stripes and insulin with them. By the time your child is a teenager, they should be able to manage their diabetes and be aware of the risks they are taking by making unhealthy choices.
Use these tips to help your diabetic child. Remember to gradually give your child more responsibilities to help them get used to living with their medical condition.