Diabetes Health Center

Healthy eating

Your child needs to eat healthy meals with appropriate portions to support growth and prevent weight gain. The meal plan for your child will also spread carbohydrate throughout the day to prevent high blood sugar after meals. For information on healthy eating and weight management, see the topic Healthy Eating for Children.

For help learning about carbohydrate counting, see:

Diabetes in Children: Counting Carbs.

Physical activity

Encourage your child (age 6 to 17) to do moderate to vigorous activity at least 1�hour every day. If your child enjoys watching TV or playing computer and video games, limit the time spent in these activities. Guidelines for child and teen fitness may help you encourage your child to play sports and take vigorous walks or go bicycling with family members.

For children older than age 2: The American Academy of Pediatrics advises parents to limit TV time to 2 hours a day or less. For children age 2 and younger: To help your child's brain develop, it's best to talk, play, sing, or read together instead of letting him or her watch TV.

Work with your child's teachers and school to make a plan to handle your child's special needs, including testing blood sugar and eating snacks when needed.

For more information, see:

Diabetes in Children: Preparing a Care Plan for School.

Your child can take part in the same activities as other children. For safety:

• Let the coach know that your child has diabetes. If your child does not take insulin, he or she may not be at risk for low blood sugar episodes. But giving the coach a copy of Symptoms of Low Blood Sugar may still be a good idea.
• Take your child's home blood sugar meter to sports practice sessions and games. Check his or her blood sugar level before and after each activity, if needed.
• Take a snack that contains carbohydrate to all practice sessions and games in case of a low blood sugar episode.

Home blood sugar monitoring

You and your child will need to monitor his or her blood sugar frequently to know how well it is under control. Talk with your doctor about a target range for your child. Young children may need a higher blood sugar goal than adults because of growth needs and to prevent very low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). As your child grows older, the goal can be lowered so that it is closer to the recommended target range.

Diabetes in Children: Checking Blood Sugar in a Child

Insulin injections

Your child may not need to take insulin if his or her blood sugar levels are staying within a target range with meal planning, exercise, and possibly oral medicine. But at some point your child may need to take insulin because the pancreas may produce less and less insulin.