At least 100,000 children in America have diabetes. But what is it? When you eat foods that contain sugar (glucose), your pancreas releases a hormone called insulin. Insulin helps the cells in your body absorb the glucose. If someone has diabetes, this process does not happen correctly.

• Types of Diabetes
• Diagnosing Type 1 Diabetes
• Treating Type 1 Diabetes
• Meal Plans

Types of Diabetes

There are two different types of diabetes:

• Type 1 diabetes: The pancreas cannot produce insulin


• Type 2 diabetes: The insulin isn’t working properly in the body

In both types, glucose cannot get into the cells causing excess sugar in the bloodstream, which can make people sick.
In both types, glucose cannot get into the cells causing excess sugar in the bloodstream, which can make people sick.

Type 1 diabetes is also called insulin-dependent diabetes (or juvenile diabetes) because it usually affects kids. However, type 1 diabetes can also affect adults.

Type 2 diabetes is called non-insulin-dependent diabetes or adult-onset diabetes because it usually occurs in people over 40 years of age. It can also occur in overweight children. When a person has type 2 diabetes, the pancreas does produce insulin. However, the insulin doesn’t work correctly and the glucose stays in the blood.

Type 2 diabetes can be prevented by maintaining a healthy weight, eating right and exercising.
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Diagnosing Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is often genetic, meaning the person might have been born with a high risk of getting diabetes because another family member had diabetes. Doctors also think there may be multiple genetic and environmental factors (other things that affect people’s health) including illnesses that make people have a higher risk of getting it.

How does someone find out if they have it?

If someone has been peeing a lot, drinking a lot, feeling hungry and losing weight, they may have diabetes. When sugar cannot be absorbed by the cells, the body tries to get rid of the sugar through urine, so the person pees more. The person is thirsty to make up for the extra urination and hungry to make up for energy from the sugar that can’t be absorbed or used by his or her body. He or she may also lose weight because the body can’t get energy from the food so it starts eating body fat. The person may also feel tired. A doctor can do a urine test to see if there is sugar in the urine.
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Treating Type 1 Diabetes

People with type 1 diabetes take prescription insulin and carefully monitor (keep track of) the amount of sugar in their blood. Prescription insulin comes in a liquid and it is injected into the bloodstream. Some people wear insulin pumps that automatically inject insulin when their body needs it. Blood sugar is monitored by pricking the finger or lower arm and testing the amount of sugar in that sample of blood. People with diabetes also have to pay special attention to their diet. They try not to have too much sugar so their blood sugar and insulin levels can stay healthy.
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Meal Plans

A dietician can help a child or adult with diabetes figure out the right nutritional balance of protein, fat and carbohydrates. Kids with diabetes can and should play sports because they need to stay fit and healthy. It is important for all kids to have a healthy weight but especially if they have diabetes. Being overweight can make dealing with diabetes even more difficult.

A doctor may recommend meal plans for children or adults with diabetes. There are three main types of meal plans:

1. Constant carbohydrate: When a person follows this meal plan, they eat a specific amount of carbohydrates for each meal or snack at about the same time each day. With this plan, the person takes diabetes medications or insulin at the same time(s) each day.


2. Carbohydrate counting: When a person follows this meal plan, they count the number of carbohydrates they eat at each meal and then determine the amount of insulin they need. The insulin pump is used at every meal or snack with this plan.


3. Exchange: When a person follows this meal plan, they count protein and fat in addition to carbohydrates. In addition, certain amounts of food are eaten from the following six groups at each meal: starch, milk, fat, meat, fruit and vegetables. There is a serving size for each group with different choices for every meal.

If someone is following one of these meal plans, it is best to write down what they eat and their blood sugar readings so they don’t forget. Parents, teachers, friends, siblings or other adults can always help.

Kids with juvenile diabetes might have to eat snacks while they play sports or have breakfast earlier than other kids at a sleepover, but nothing prevents them from living completely normal lives.
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