I am a nurse consultant for a medical center in Ohio. We are working on a specialized curriculum for our pediatric diabetes specialty clinic population. We are looking for age-appropriate eating patterns documentation. Do you have a document or know of a resource to obtain this information?

Normal feeding for kids is highly individual and varied so it’s not possible to say for a given child of a given age and stature exactly what his or her optimal intake would be. Still, an appreciation of nutritional needs, how they translate into specific food choices, and the developmental issues that effect food selection and preferences at different stages can be extremely helpful. I highly recommend I highly recommend Child of Mine by Ellyn Satter. This is a practical well-written classic, newly updated April 2000. Available on Amazon. Satter is both a nutritionist and a behaviorist and her work is excellent. Another of her books How to Get Your Kid to Eat but Not Too Much is especially important reading for anyone dealing with the touchy issue of engaging the family in “managing” the child’s intake as we do in diabetes.

BB

[Editor’s comment: Since Betty didn’t mention her own publication, I will. Betty’s book, written with a psychologist (Richard Rubin, PhD), is called Sweet Kids: How to Balance Diabetes Control & Good Nutrition with Family Peace. It is published by the American Diabetes Association. This reference has become “the gold standard” for everyone who works with children who have diabetes.

SS]