Diabetes is a chronic disease with significant harm, and currently many patients are threatened by diabetes. So what are the dietary considerations for children with diabetes? Let's find out.
[Diet for Children with Diabetes]
1. Cooking principles for children with diabetes. The diet for diabetes is a weight-based treatment diet. For the required food, the inedible parts such as skin, roots, and bones should be removed, weighed, and processed before cooking. During the cooking process, do not add sugar, use less or avoid frying and frying cooking methods, and use more stir-frying, steaming, boiling, stewing, and simmering methods. There are no restrictions on condiments such as onions, ginger, soy sauce, and vinegar.
2. Food plan. The distribution of food calories is 50% to 55% for carbohydrates, 30% for fat, and 15% to 20% for protein. Divide the daily calories into 25% for breakfast, 25% for lunch, 30% for dinner, and 5% for snacks between meals, and 10% before bed. Carbohydrates in each meal are the key factors determining the insulin requirements and blood glucose levels. Patients should eat at regular intervals and quantities.
3. Dietary restrictions for children with diabetes. Strictly limit pure sugar products such as honey, cane sugar, maltose, fructose, etc. If you must eat sweets, you can use sweeteners such as stevia, xylitol, and aspartame instead of cane sugar. High-sugar fruits with a sugar content higher than 10% to 15%, such as persimmons, lychees, red fruit, and sugarcane, should be avoided as much as possible. You can choose low-sugar fruits such as watermelon, peach, apple, and loquat, or use tomatoes, cucumbers, and radishes as substitutes.
[What to Pay Attention to in the Diet of Children with Diabetes?]
1. The diet should follow the principles of balanced nutrition
The diet for diabetes is also a balanced diet. Different foods have different nutritional characteristics, so parents should ensure that their children have a diversified diet. Each meal should include staple food, meat dishes, vegetables, etc. In order to better stabilize postprandial blood sugar, you can use steamed corn, boiled taro, baked potatoes, and other tubers instead of some staple foods.
2. Ensure sufficient intake of vegetables and fruits
Vegetables and fruits are the main sources of vitamins and minerals, and they also contain rich plant chemicals with health benefits, such as polyphenols, organic sulfur compounds, plant sterols, saponins, etc. According to the recommendations of the Chinese Nutrition Society, the daily intake of vegetables for children should reach 200-250 grams, and fruits should be 100-150 grams.
3. Chew slowly and develop good eating habits
Cut the meat and vegetables into small pieces for cooking, chew slowly while eating, and chew each mouthful 20-25 times before swallowing. Allow various foods consumed in a meal to mix well, which can reduce the glycemic index of mixed meals. At the same time, chewing slowly can also help reduce the burden on the child's digestive system, allowing the body to fully digest and absorb nutrients from food.
4. Choose healthy snacks and have appropriate snacks
Children with diabetes have the right to eat snacks just like healthy children. The key is how to choose healthy snacks and when is the best time to eat snacks. Avoid choosing carb-rich and fatty snacks such as potato chips and various puffed foods as snacks. It is recommended to use fruits, small packages of nuts, plain yogurt, small packages of whole grain biscuits, etc. Snacks should be eaten between meals, and avoid eating large amounts of snacks before meals to avoid affecting the intake of regular meals.
[What is Good for Children with Diabetes to Eat?]
1. Soy and its products: In addition to being rich in protein, minerals, and vitamins, these foods also contain a lot of unsaturated fatty acids in soybean oil, which can lower blood cholesterol and triglycerides. The phytosterols they contain also have lipid-lowering effects.
2. Coarse cereals: Coarse cereals such as buckwheat noodles, hot wheat flakes, and cornmeal contain various trace elements, B vitamins, and dietary fiber. Experiments have shown that they have the effect of delaying the rise in blood sugar. You can use cornmeal, bean flour, and white flour in a ratio of 2:2:1 to make three-combined steamed buns, pancakes, and noodles, which are not only beneficial for lowering blood sugar and fat, but also reducing hunger.
3. Limit the intake of foods containing only sugar: candies and sugary drinks. Adhere to a complete meal and snack schedule. Accurately calculate the child's nutrient intake.
4. Children are in a critical period of growth and development and cannot strictly control the total calorie intake like adults. The calorie scale should be appropriately relaxed. You can limit the types of food, such as avoiding sweets and foods with excessive fat. Generally speaking, the daily caloric intake for leaner children is 1000 + (age-1) × 100, and for fatter children, it is 1000 + (age-1) × 80. Different foods have reference data for calorie content, and parents can choose based on the data.
