How to Help Children Understand Diabetes

When your child has diabetes, it is important to explain the concept of diabetes as a health condition to her in a way that she can understand. At the same time, it is important to give her the proper messages about diabetes education and management so that she feels more in control.

Things You'll Need

• Sugar cubes (optional)
• Spoons (optional)

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Instructions

• 1

  Make sure that your child understands two main facts about diabetes: He did nothing to cause himself to get it, and it doesn't go away. Children often feel guilty about having a condition like diabetes, and often wonder whether they will "get better" if they do everything "right." Address these misconceptions early on.

• 2

  Be positive. Rather than viewing diabetes as a source of stress, show your child that you can control her diabetes together, and that although sometimes it may be difficult, the efforts will be worth it in the end because they will keep her healthy.

• 3

  Explain the medical side of diabetes on your child's level. For example, a preschooler just needs to know the rules that he must follow---asking an adult before eating something, for example. An older child may want to understand more precisely what is actually happening in his body.

• 4

  Use visual aids, such as sugar cubes to represent sugar molecules and spoons to represent insulin, if you intend to teach a young child about the science behind diabetes. You can show him how the body needs insulin to "move"---or digest---the sugar molecules, and that the sugar will "sit" there for longer without sufficient insulin.

• 5

  Explain to your child the different aspects of diabetes that they will deal with on a daily basis. These may include insulin injections, blood sugar testing and physician appointments.