Diabetic Diets for Teenagers

A child with diabetes needs to watch his diet to ensure he keeps his blood sugar at the right level. Teaching teenagers the right habits early on builds confidence and helps them deal responsibly with their diabetes. A strict diet is not required, but teaching a teen how to keep their diet balanced can help keep low sugar incidents to a minimum.

Checking Labels

• It is important that teens learn to check the labels of the foods they eat so they can monitor how many simple sugars they are consuming. Each food label indicates how many carbohydrates are in a serving of the food. Sugars and starches are the two varieties of carbohydrates in food. Sugars include fructose, glucose and lactose, which can be found in the ingredients section of the food label. Starches include corn, potatoes, rice, cereals and bread. Finding out how much carbohydrate the teen consumes can help monitor what causes blood sugar spikes and what keeps it at a normal level.

Well-Balanced Meals

• Make sure your teen learns to eat a well-balanced meal as part of a healthy diet. A teen should consume 10 to 20 percent of her calorie intake from protein, which can be found in meats and soy alternatives. Twenty-five to 30 percent of the daily calorie intake should be from fats, with only 12 percent of that coming from saturated fats. Fifty to 60 percent of the calories consumed should come from carbohydrates, especially carbs from fruits and vegetables.

Common Meal Plans

• Choose one of three common meal plans; the diabetic exchange meal plan, constant carbohydrate plan or the carbohydrate counting meal plan. The exchange plan breaks foods into six categories including starch, fruit, milk, fat, vegetable and meat. A typical exchange meal plan sets out certain amounts of each food category that can be consumed during the day. The exchange program allows you to substitute one portion of a food category for another as long as you do not consume more than the specified units during the day. This plan is good for those new to diabetes.

  The constant carbohydrate meal plan means a teen eats a certain amount of carbs during each meal and takes insulin in specified amounts at the same time each day. This is a simple to follow diet but is very strict. It is best saved for those who need a strict dietary plan.

  The carbohydrate counting plan requires the teen to count the amount of carbohydrates consumed at each meal and then match their insulin to that amount. This is a flexible diet that teaches responsibility for later years.