Diet is an important component of treatment for your child's diabetes. But if your child is tired of following a strict diet plan, you may want to consider the insulin pump, which allows more freedom and flexibility with food choices and meal timing. While the insulin pump allows your child to eat more carbohydrates than a typical carbohydrate-counting meal plan, it is still important that he follow a healthy diet like all other children his age, with or without diabetes.
Insulin Pump
An insulin pump is a safe way for your child treat his diabetes. It is a small pager-sized machine that delivers insulin through a catheter inserted into his skin. The pump provides basal insulin, which is a low-dose insulin, steadily throughout the day, acting much like the pancreas. When your child eats, he gives himself an additional bolus of fast-acting insulin to control the blood sugar affected by his food choices.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are one of the major macronutrients in food and are the body's preferred source of energy. But carbohydrates also have the greatest effect on blood sugar. Carbohydrates are found in a number of foods, including bread, grains, starchy vegetables, milk, fruit, juice and sweets. A child who is not on an insulin pump needs to eat a consistent amount of carbohydrates at each meal and snack to manage her blood sugar.
Carbohydrates and the Insulin Pump
One of the benefits of the insulin pump is that your child has more flexibility when it comes to meal choices and timing. Instead of having to eat a controlled amount of carbohydrates at each meal, your child can eat as much or as little as he wants and control blood sugar by giving himself the prescribed dosage of bolus insulin to cover the amount of carbohydrates consumed. For example, if your child is prescribed 1 unit of insulin for every 15 g of carbohydrates, and he eats 75 g of carbohydrates, he needs to bolus himself five units of insulin. Your doctor determines the insulin-to-carbohydrate bolus dosage.
Considerations
While the insulin pump certainly allows your child to eat as many carbohydrates she wants, it is still important to eat a healthy and balanced diet. Eating too many calories in the form of carbohydrates, protein or fat can cause weight gain and additional health-related problems. In general, a healthy diet for children over the age of 4 should be 45 to 65 percent carbohydrates, 10 to 30 proteins and 25 to 35 fats.
References
- Medtronic: Nutrition and Carbohydrate Counting
- U.S. Department of Agriculture; Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010; Balancing Calories to Manage Weight
- Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation: Insulin Pump
- Dartmouth-Hitchcock Children's Hospital at Dartmouth: Nutrition and Meal Planning
- The Naomi Barre Diabetes Center: Pediatric Insulin Pump Therapy
