Free Diabetic Supplies

You may or may not know this, but there are a lot of children both in the United States and around the world that have diabetes.  This type of diabetes is called juvenile diabetes or type 1 diabetes.

There are many things that add to the issues of juvenile diabetes.  Some of these include obesity.  Often, that obesity is coming from junk food, fast food, hidden sweets and fried foods, as well as meals that are not balanced.

As strange as it may seem, part of the problem is in some of the schools.  There are many schools that are offering healthier meals that include actual real vegetables, salads and other low sugar and low carb/high protein foods.

At the same time, many schools have “TV dinner” style foods with too many carbs, sugar and worse, and without a vegetable or piece of fruit in sight.  In case the schools don’t know, tater tots and ketchup are not two vegetables.

This is not to say that your child should not eat school food.  However, it is important to look at the menu and try to limit the number of days they do so, as well as trying to pick the days that healthy food is being provided.

It is a fact that most children diagnosed with diabetes are struggling with obesity as well.  Where is the obesity coming from?  Often the very food that we just spoke about.  In addition, some of the issues are coming from unhealthy snacks.  This, again, is not to say that kids can’t eat the fun stuff.  It boils down to how much and how often the child is eating these things.

Oh, and one last thing.  In case you didn’t know, there are often coke machines at schools – especially middle schools.  Sodas and other sugary drinks create too much blood sugar and fill a child with empty calories, adding to the problems. Some of these machines have been replaced with juice/water machines that should help eliminate some of those empty calories. 

If your child has diabetes, it is important for you to watch their food, drinks and snacks.  It is also important that you encourage them to eat healthier. 

For excellent tips on diet and diabetes health for children, check on the web at www.diabetes.org or www.jdrf.org.