Which Foods to Avoid for Your Diabetic Child Diet?

Maintaining sugar levels and a healthy diet for a child suffering from juvenile diabetes can be a tricky task. here are a few food items that should be avoided in such a condition.

Juvenile diabetes is type 1 diabetes, where insulin is required to control blood sugar levels. Whatever we eat is eventually converted to glucose and requires insulin to maintain its level in the blood. In juvenile diabetes, since there is little or no production of insulin by the pancreas (the organ which normally produces insulin hormone), children require daily insulin injections.

Foods to Avoid Once Child Diagnosed Diabetes - Why?

Eating a balanced diet is most important to maintain good health. However, care needs to be taken while consuming fats and carbohydrate-rich foods.

Carbohydrate intake should match the insulin intake and activity level so that the normal range of blood sugar is maintained. It is also recommended that healthy fats should be consumed so as to keep cholesterol and lipid levels in range. This would help prevent any long term lipid disorder, which diabetics are more prone to.

Children with juvenile diabetes should know about the glycemic index of different foods, as it is important to maintain their blood sugar levels in the normal range. The glycemic index is the numerical index given to a carbohydrate-rich food that is based on the average increase in blood glucose level occurring in blood after the food is eaten.

There is a glycemic index of individual food items including cereals, pulses, vegetables, fruits, etc. In general, cereals like wheat, rice and starchy vegetables like potato, carrots, have a higher glycemic index (65-75%), fruits have 45-55%, lentils like peas, green gram, Bengal gram have a low glycemic index of (30-40%). [Read More - Diabetes Causes, Symptoms & Ways to Help Diabetic Child As Parent]

Food item Glycemic Index Rice 72 Parantha, wheat 70 Upma 75 Potato 70 Sweet potato 48 Banana 69 Glucose 100 Honey 87 Beetroot 64 Curds 36 Soybeans 43 Rajmah 29 Chole 65 Bengal gram 47 Milk 33 Curds 36 Apple 40 Orange 40

Foods that are high in sugar, are more processed and refined would have a higher glycaemic index and are better avoided. These include any carbonated beverages, sweetened fruit juice, fruit drinks, etc Jams, jellies, sweets, sweetened yogurt, pizza, etc. [Know - Diet Precautions & Tips for Your Diabetic Child]

Maida or refined flour-based foods like white bread, cakes, pastries, cookies, biscuits, pasta, chips. Sugar in any form like processed/white sugar, jaggery, honey, etc. Children with juvenile diabetes also need to avoid foods high in trans fats, which includes hydrogenated fats of margarine, vanaspati ghee, fried foods and any food high in animal foods including lard.

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