Diabetes in children: Counting carbs

Carbohydrate counting helps you know how much carbohydrate your child is eating during a meal or snack to provide a more accurate estimate of how much his or her blood sugar will rise after eating. The more carbohydrate he or she eats at one time, the higher the blood sugar level will rise. Carbohydrate counting also helps if:

• Your child takes insulin before meals and his or her doctor wants to vary the dose according to the amount of carbohydrate in the meal. Even if your child doesn't take insulin, carbohydrate counting will help keep his or her blood sugar in a safe range. Often your child's doctor may suggest that your child take one unit of fast-acting insulin for every 10 to 15 grams of carbohydrate in a meal. This insulin-to-carbohydrate ratio is not the same for every person and will be decided by you and your child's doctor. For more information on carbohydrate counting when using insulin, see:

  Diabetes: Counting carbs if you use insulin.

• Your child wants to eat a high-sugar food, such as a piece of birthday cake. You can substitute the piece of cake for a serving of other carbohydrate food in your child's meal plan. If your child takes insulin, you can adjust the insulin dose to cover the extra carbohydrate. Your doctor or certified diabetes educator can teach you how to do this.

Spreading your child's carbohydrates throughout the day will help keep his or her blood sugar levels within a safe range, preventing low or high blood sugar. Both low and high blood sugar levels can cause emergency situations. Over time, high blood sugar levels can damage many body tissues and organs.

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