Diet tips for Juvenile Diabetes

 Parentune - Food & Nutrition

Food & Nutrition, Health & Wellness

The trauma and tremors felt on discovering that your little angel suffers from Type I Diabetes is totally understandable. This harrowing revelation can be really daunting and can monumentally change the child’s life forever. In fact it’s over-whelming for the entire family at first, as the parents have to make major lifestyle changes to deal with the malady; but with support and time, it becomes manageable and a part of the daily routine.

A normal day in a diabetic person’s life requires drawing blood from finger tips and testing blood with a glucometer at least four times, at least three insulin injections and monitoring carbohydrate intake. Sounds like a lot to ask of anyone, especially young children, but with support from family, friends, doctors and dieticians, they can definitely do it. It is in fact advisable that your child is made to understand the seriousness of this disease even if he/she is still young. It’s better that the kids learn what they need to know to control diabetes, rather than allowing diabetes to control them. So, instead of sheltering your child from the illness, talk to them constantly and teach them to handle the situation wisely.

Some crucial diet tips that can help control and manage juvenile diabetes are given below:

• 3 major meals and 2-3 healthy snacks must be inculcated as part of the daily diet.

• Never skip a single meal as it could lead to undesirable sugar spikes. Especially never skip breakfast as it is the most crucial meal of the day.

• The amount of carbohydrates consumed can affect blood sugar levels, so keep a tab on how much carbohydrates your child eats.

• You need to curb sweets and not ban sweets completely. One needs to be judicious as far as dessert is concerned, and the sugar profile of the individual should be the deciding factor here. So, dessert doesn’t have to be off limits, as long as it’s a part of a healthy meal plan.

• Eat sweets with a meal, rather than as a stand-alone snack. When eaten alone, sweets cause your blood sugar to spike. But if one must eat sweets, it should be eaten along with other healthy food, and the blood sugar won’t rise as rapidly.

• Avoid processed/packaged/ready-to-eat foods like ready to eat snack, frozen heat and eat meat, frozen potato wedges, etc. Make the child eat natural meats such as chicken breasts, grilled fish, eggs, nuts, baked potatoes, lentils, legumes, etc.

• Avoid simple carbohydrates (highly refined) such as white bread, white rice, sugar, processed refined flour and its products, sugar-coated cereals, instant oats, white potato, aerated drinks, candy, cakes, pastries, cookies, etc. Go for complex carbohydrates (slow release) such as whole grain/multigrain bread, brown rice, plain rolled oats and other cereals, yams, sweet potato, winter squash, whole-wheat pasta, etc. They are good sources of fibre and they are digested slowly, keeping blood sugar levels more even.

• Administer a healthy diet that includes protein, carbohydrates and fats. All three are required for the body to function properly. The key is a balanced diet.

• Avoid too much salt in the form of table salt, salty snacks, processed foods with preservatives, papad, pickles, sauces, ketchup, readymade soups, etc.

• Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits every day.

• Choose foods with healthy fats such as olive oil, canola oil, nuts (almonds and walnuts), flaxseeds, oily fish like salmon and tuna, low fat dairy like curd, buttermilk. Limit saturated fats from full fat dairy, fried foods and other animal products such as red meat and too many eggs.

• Incorporate special diabetes foods that help control the problem, such as bitter gourd (karela) ,fenugreek (methi), Indian blackberry (jamun), garlic, onion, cinnamon and flaxseed.

• Include fibre in diet in the form of foods such as apples, hard pear, kidney beans, black-eyed beans, dried peas, walnuts, sprouts, green vegetables oatmeal, and soya bean. These aid slow digestion and absorption of nutrients, resulting in a slow and steady release of glucose.

• Focus on maintaining a balance between energy intake / expenditure (input vs. output), body requirements and insulin action to prevent adverse effects of hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia.

• Eat slowly and stop when full.

• Control portion sizes. Eat small meals but eat often.

• Stick to regular meal times: Regular meal times help the body to regulate blood sugar levels.

• Keep your child active through regular exercise.

• Maintain a food diary if possible.

So, don't let juvenile diabetes get the best of your child. Show your precious little child the best way to manage his diet so she is capable of taking care of herself when she grows up. There will be road blocks but nothing that can’t be handled by tweaking the lifestyle a little.

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Why bed wetting is never a Child's Fault

 Parentune - Topic - Becoming a Parent, When parents may be wrong, Home Environment, Health, Disorder
 
7 year old Sunny wakes up every morning and the first thing he does is check his sheets. He seemed to have wet his bed yet again. His greatest fear comes alive and he starts crying in shame. He knows what are to follow- his mother shouting at him, his father grumbling, his sister laughing and Roma bai complaining as she will have to do the laundry! He manages to stay dry during the day, but somehow cannot seem to control his bladder when asleep. Some days he would try hiding the sheets, but his mother would find them and the consequences would be worse for him. Over time this has caused a great deal of embarrassment to Sunny. His parents grew extremely irritated at this behaviour and brought it up at the slightest excuse. At the age of 7 years, Sunny was a very quiet, shy and a timid boy with very few friends.

Bedwetting, also known as Enuresis, is a type of sleep disorder, which is faced by millions of families. It is very common among young children but can continue up to teen years and even adult hood. In most cases the exact cause is not known. An unfortunate aspect about bed wetting is the embarrassment, shame and the affect it has on the self confidence of the child.
What are the causes for bed wetting?

Bed wetting in most children is not due to an underlying cause, but in some children, there may be an underlying condition. It is wrong to assume that children wet their beds because they are lazy or doing it wilfully. This disorder can cause pain and disturbance to all involved.

There are two types of bedwetting:

Primary, where the child never attained bladder control.
Secondary, where the child achieved bladder control but lost it over time.

Bed wetting is known to be related to one or more of the following:

• Delayed development of the nervous system may be the reason for the child not to realize when his/her bladder is full.

• The child’s bladder maybe too small to hold large amount urine at a time, hence gives way.

• Low Anti-diuretic Hormone- This hormone controls the secretion of urine in the kidney. Children with a low level of this hormone usually cannot control the bladder when asleep.

• Deep Sleep- Some children may wet their beds at night simply for the fact that they may sleep too deep and do not wake up to go to the bathroom.

• Genetics- Parents, who have had the same condition, are likely to pass it on to the children. If both parents have been bed wetters, then the child is likely to have a 70% chance of being a bed wetter. If one parent has been a bed wetter, then the child will have a 40% chance to following the habit.

• Stress or an emotional factor- If a child is stressed about a change in his/her environment, for example, changing of school, moving to a new place or even the birth of a sibling; changes like these may make him/her wet their beds.

• Food allergies or food intolerances may also be culprits behind bed wetting. Carbonated or caffeinated beverages are known to irritate the lining of the bladder.

How to help a child who bed wets-

1. If a child is being toilet trained, it is important to be patient, as some children take longer to learn bladder control.

2. Limiting a child’s fluid intake in the evenings may help in reducing the chances of bed wetting at night.

3. Children should never be punished or shamed if they wet their beds. This may worsen their fear and affect their personalities in the long run. Wetting episodes should be handled calmly and accident free nights should be appreciated; this will encourage the child to make more of an effort to end the habit.

4. The child should be made aware of the fact that bed-wetting is a common occurrence among many children and the child can control it in time.

5. Bed-wetting may be due to stress, trying to find out the real reason behind the stress or anxiety and figuring a way to sort it out with the child may help make a difference.

6. A doctor may be consulted to rule out any infections such as Urinary Tract Infection or other medical causes such as Sleep Apnea or even Diabetes.

7. Waking the child every 2-3 three hours to go to the toilet in the night by either of the parent may help in tackling the issue.

8. During the day, the child can be encouraged to delay passing urine as long as possible. This may help with bladder control even at night.

9. Children should be praised if they have had a dry night or have woken up to use the toilet at night.

10. A positive way of encouraging a child to stay dry at night can be by keeping a diary of the number of dry nights by using stickers or stars. At the end of the month, the child can be rewarded for the number of dry nights he/she has had. This will only motivate the child to try and stay dry.

11. To rule out food intolerances leading to bed wetting, all trigger foods such as soft drinks, soda, other acidic drinks, chocolates and cocoa can be gradually eliminated. A diet chart may be maintained to give a clearer picture of which foods to avoid in helping the child remain dry at night.

Home Remedies

Some home remedies are known to effectively curb bed wetting. These have been tried and tested by parents over the years.

• Walnuts and Raisins – Eating a handful of walnuts and raisins at bedtime are known to help to keep the child dry over time.

• Banana- Banana is known to bind the stomach and also help with bladder control.

• A spoonful of a mixture of jaggery, celery seeds and black sesame seeds (all in equal quantities) can be given to a child in a cup of milk every morning. This is known to be effective in bed wetting when taken regularly for a month or two.

• A mixture of 1 teaspoon of Amla (gooseberry) with 1/8 teaspoon of black pepper powder can be given to the child at bed time.

• The child should be in a stress-free and a comfortable environment at home. The chances of bed wetting are more if a child is constantly worried about the thought that s/he will be teased by a friend or a sibling.

It may be very frustrating for a parent whose child wets his/her bed. However, we must remember that it is never the child’s fault. Most children grow out of this habit. In most cases, a simple change of attitude among the family members and more so on the part of the parents, is enough to help solve the issue.

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