June 6, 2004
Daily Care, Meal Planning, Food and Diet
Question from Houston, Texas, USA:
My five year old daughter has type 1 diabetes. We are trying to serve healthier foods and reduce the amount of sugar and processed foods that our kids eat. With our daughter’s diabetes, we need to serve a bedtime snack. Usually, she gets ice cream, cookies and milk, or cereal and milk. What are some healthier bedtime snacks that we can serve? We need a snack that will keep her blood sugar from falling during the night.
Answer:
Cereal and milk is fine at bedtime as long as it is more of the unsweetened types. It is a good combination of carbohydrates and protein to prevent hypoglycemia during the night. Some other good “kid friendly” snack ideas include peanut butter and low sugar jelly sandwich, cheese and crackers, reduced calorie yogurts, goldfish crackers and part skim milk mozzarella cheese sticks. Remember to combine carbohydrates and low fat protein choices at bedtime to assist with optimal blood sugar control during the night. If your daughter still has low blood sugars during the night, please mention this to your physician.
JMS
