Low carb diet and kids

[Laty]

After reading all kinds of material on the net and books, it seems to me that low carb diet with minimal insulin would be the best treatment for our son. And it would be good to all our family.
I have been quite overwhelmed by all the new information about cholesterol too.

In our country recommendation is 45-60 carbohydrates/day, which is quite a lot. Also we are recommended to use a lot of vegetable oils, which seems to be wrong without quite of amount of fish oil.

Exercise our whole family needs too more than we are practising today.

I think we try not to overreact, but gradually change our eating habits to the direction all this data is leading.

[foxl]

Sounds worht a try to me! Let us know how it works out.

I have 3 non-diabetic kids, and I am suddenly aware of how much of their diet is CARBS.

[Subby]

In our country recommendation is 45-60 carbohydrates/day, which is quite a lot.

Hi Laty, what unit are you referring to here?

[Laty]

Percentage of daily intake of food, sorry for kind of a typo.

[sarahspins]

Growing children should not be on low-carb diets. I don't personally believe that adults should be on the extreme low-carb diets that have become so popular either (moderately low-carb is a different thing entirely).

45-60% of the calories from carbs is pretty standard... you may perhaps opt to make wiser food choices than just adopting the "a carb is a carb" mentality... whole grains are much better for the body than candy, for example. That will help set up healthy eating patterns that your child will likely continue for life.

[soso]

there is an MD who posts on the Dr Richard Bernstein forum who has a diabetic son that has been on low carb for some years.. I believe her screen name is Katherine.. you might want to head over their and take a look.

I don't personally have any experience with children and LC.. but good luck to you both.

[Laty]

Thank You for the hint !

We are not into totally forbidding anything, which could cause rebelling and eating disorders when older.

We think it is a good approach to change our meals towards less carbs. We are already eating broccoli and cauliflower so it is to upgrade their as other vegetables proportion. And of course stay aware of the calories a guy at this age needs.

It has been a short period to observe the effect of different foods to his glucose levels, but it already appears that low carb food makes it easier to keep glucose levels normal.

What worries is the food at school, where the cost of it affects (though it shouldn't) the quality.
There is an opportunity to wish for how many grams of carb the lunch and extra meals (before gym classes) contain.

Some birthday and other parties will come and many parents here are already trying to limit the amount of sugarload (and kids going "crazy" over that), by using non-sugar drinks and thinking about the food.

I consider also the quality of life. Kids don't want to differ much from their friends. Our sons best friend is heavily allergic and used to checking on food.

[SueM]

there is an MD who posts on the Dr Richard Bernstein forum who has a diabetic son that has been on low carb for some years.. I believe her screen name is Katherine.. you might want to head over their and take a look.

I don't personally have any experience with children and LC.. but good luck to you both.

He eats about 130 carbs + a day he also has 13 injections some days :eek: All that for an A1c of 6.3

As a child I was brought up on a restriced carb diet. As a teenager It was something like 60 breakfast 65 lunch and 65 evening meal. with 30 carbs for supper and a snack mid morning and pm. Obviously I had less carbs when pre teenager

44 years down the line I am still alive and well with no complications

[REDLAN]

There are possibly some issues with children and very low carbohydrate diets (30g carbs per day) i.e. ketogenic diets.

The limited evidence comes from children with epilepsy where ketogenic diets have been used as a treatment. Those children ended up shorter than expected, and also had more broken bones. The evidence as it is, is poor - lacking proper controls.

there are no proper long term safety studies on very low carb diets, although it is believed they are safe for adults.

[Laty]

The doctors at our clinic have been supportive and told about another diabetic type-1 child who's on low-carb. The nurses have been more worried.

So far we have needed to stay near the recommended about 200g carbs a day, because "A" has needed extra to treat low's. He might have remission and we have been walking and cycling and he might have needed less insulin.
Now Levemir has been reduced (the morning dose was also a bit too high - for pubertic young ones). And so has NovoRapid.

If we take away the amount he needed for correction the daily amount of carbs would have been about 150 g - which is still not so low-carb yet.

He is not so into sour cream or yogurt, which could make this easier. Does anyone here put raw eggs in their oatmeal porridge ? I think that sounds awful, but might be worth a try ?

I have been in some kind of shock, though I knew much about diabetes before this. I didn't think of it so much as a disease but a deficiency.
I think I have stayed quite cool, but couldn't help crying this morning.
It feels so heartbreaking to see our son, who is no longer a "baby", but a child still, trying to understand what has happened to him and coping with it. He tries to be "on top of it" and take care himself of measuring and injections.
He was in the bed for sleep and said to his father, who went to check on him: "I hope Your wish is right and they find a cure for this in next ten years."

[soso]

My heart goes out to you all Laty... it will get better, in some ways soon and in others later...

instead of the egg, why not try heavy cream on the oatmeal? It is delish.. another good treat food to make for him is 8oz of cream cheese melted into a cup of heavy cream.. mix in his fave flavour of sugar free jello (when mix is hot enough) pour into dish, set in fridge, cut into chunks...its good! and negligible carbs. if you pm me an email addy I will send you a pdf of low carb recipes.

[Laty]

Thank You for Your words ! I must have been in some kind of denial. Sent You a PM.

[Laty]

"A" is going to remission. He's got approval of his doctor (husband called to the hospital in the morning) to reduce Levemir further to 8+7 units. Today he has needed only one shot of 3 units NovoRapid.
We went to the local zoo in the morning.
Total carbs today 140 g.

Breakfast: B-gluc= 3.4
- Cheerios (full grain), carbs 20 g
- Milk, carbs 10 g

1/12 h after B-gluc= 8.9 (would have needed a small dose NR)

still by..

Lunch : B-gluc =3.2
- Fish (shouldn't have been deep fried with crust on, but was dam it!) 10 g
- Warm vegetables

after about an hour: B-gluc 4.4
- soft ice 30 g

after 2 h: B-gluc 6.1

Dinner, B-gluc 3.5
- milk 10g carbs
- rice 20g carbs
- full meat sausage
- tomato

Then we went swimming to the sea (+21 C warm).

In the evening, B-gluc 5.4
- rye bread 15 g carbs
- milk 20g carbs
(refused cheese).

total carbs = 140g.

Another glass of milk if necessary before bed.

Nice day with the kids.

[pwish]

My daughter was diagnosed at age 9. Her doctor did put her on a low carb diet with a max of 60 carbs for b/l/d and a max of 30 carbs for snacks. She barely eats the maxx except sometimes at dinner. He said she shouldn't exclude all sweets since she was a growing child and he said kids need a certain amount of suger for energy to grow. We always cover her food intake with insulin based on the amount of carbs ingested. That being said we do restrict some sugar. She barely ever eats candy, ice cream is limited and is always sugar free or low carb (Breyers), and all drinks are sugar free. I swear by 100 calorie snack packs and we usually always start a meal with a small salad so it fills you up and generally leaves you wanting less to eat after that. Quick tip for eating out, buy a copy of the Calorie King book for counting carbs at most fast food or dining restaurants ( available at most book stores or on their web site) it also lists carbs for almost any food you can imagine. When your food comes at a restaurant automatically ask for a take home container and split the portion in half and take that portion home. Frequently my daughter and I will split an entree as well as a dessert so we get to have it all but practice portion control. We swear by portion control. Its a great premis for eating at home. Every package of prepared foods has a label that lists the portion size and carbs which makes it easy to determin her insulin dosage. I hear what you are saying about restricting your child at such a young age, but, it does lead to healthier eating as an adult. My daughter eats so many foods now that she never would before, like carrots ( her favorite), apples,yogurt,eggs ( we love free foods), salad. Anything is acceptable in moderation as long as you cover it with insulin. My daughters friends parents have also been very graceous when having partys by always having sugar free beverages or trying to bake with a sugar free substitute. After fours years I still feel guilt and sometimes just sit down a cry about her Diabetes, but, I always stress to her that she could have been diagnosed with something much worse and that anything is possible for her as long as she takes care of herself and lives with some minor inconveniences. Hope I gave you some food for thought, no pun intended! Well maybe just a little.

[Laty]

Thank You for Your post!

We have visited the clinic again. Levemir is to be reduced to 6+6 and also less NR for meals. Some own Langerhans-cells still manage to work.

School will begin 18th of August and "A" will get a new teacher. The principal assured us, that they are accustomed to take care, because they have had diabetic pupils before too. My husband is planning a meeting before school starts.

They have different options of carb amounts per lunch at school - the smallest is 30g. The child may take portions himself too.
They use whole grain rice and pasta, which is all the better.

I think we are slowly calming a bit down, still learning (and will be).

[Laty]

Honeymoon is here.
Levemir 5+5, NovoRapid 0,5/10g minimally. When carbs/meal are <20g - NR has not been needed.

The boy is happy and alert and has gained soon weight which has been now stabilizing. When given opportunity to choose for more carbs and injection or lesser carbs no injection, he has often chooses the lesser carbs.

I just heard that some kids here have got the possibility to get meals with low carbs at school by doctors orders. I wish there was this possibility without the need to bother doctors.

[Laty]

Levemir still reduced to 4+4. NovoRapid is needed seldom.

The nurse at the clinic said she's not seen this good curves and HbA1c in a long time !
Also the doctor was surprised how quickly HbA1c had come down. BS is 4-7 most of time.

Slight weight loss has occurred and we will check the energy intake to be adequate.

At school all is well and he is allowed to call home to check carbs and need for shot.