August 4, 2000
Behavior
Question from Pennsylvania, USA:
My nine year old son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes recently. For the first week, he was doing everything that the doctors and I explained has to be done, but, now this week, he is totally disregarding everything and eating whatever he wants whenever he wants and he is throwing his blood sugar levels completely out of whack. He is eating things that he is not supposed to as soon as he knows that he can get away with it. What should I do? I have explained to him what the repercussions of this could be but he doesn’t seem to care.
Answer:
I strongly encourage you to talk with the dietitian on your diabetes team. There should not be any “forbidden” foods, now that we understand carbohydrate counting and we have the short acting insulin, Humalog. Please work with your team to help your son learn that he can eat the foods he enjoys, and to help you all develop a plan for including these foods into his meal plan.
JWB
[Editor’s comment: Your son may also benefit from visiting with a social worker or psychologist experienced in dealing with children who have diabetes. He may have fears and concerns that he is unable to express to you.
SS]
