What to Expect

The Endocrine, Diabetes and Metabolic health care team will make sure that you have all the proper information and resources to properly care for your child.

Regular Follow-Up Care in the Endocrine Center

One way we try to help you stay balanced when caring for your child’s diabetes, is we will review your child’s A1C (blood glucose report card) with you every three months to determine what your child’s sugar levels are. The team will go over the levels with your child and you so you can see if you are managing your child’s diabetes to the best of your ability. This will ensure that your child stays healthy and active.

Create a Meal Plan in the Endocrine and Diabetes Center

Your child's meal plan is an extremely important part of being healthy, active and living well with diabetes. When your child eats, his or her blood sugar (glucose) level will rise. Insulin and exercise both lower the blood sugar level. The key is to balance the amount of food your child eats with exercise and insulin so that most of the time your child's blood sugar levels are in the proper range. 

The dietitian who is a part of the Miller Children’s Endocrine and Diabetes Center will work with you to create an individual meal plan for your child. Your child's meal plan is designed to spread out foods throughout the day. The meal plan should provide guidelines for healthy, well-balanced meals and snacks to help keep your child's blood glucose in a safe range while providing the appropriate amount of nutrients to support your child's normal growth and development.

You and your child should meet with the dietitian at least once or twice each year to update the meal plan. Visits may need to be more frequent if problems arise. The meal plan will be adjusted depending on changes in your child's growth and development, school routines, seasonal sports or exercise and child care/daycare arrangements.

• It is important that your child’s meals and snacks occur around the same time each day.
• Try to keep the time of the meals and snacks within 30 minutes of his or her schedule.
• Do not skip meals or snacks.
• Skipping or delaying a meal or snack more than 30 minutes could cause your child's blood sugar to drop too low.
• Most children need to eat three meals and two to three snacks each day.
• Your child should eat every two to three hours so that his or her blood glucose does not drop too low. As your child gets older, he or she may not need to eat as often.
• It is important to have a bedtime snack to prevent your child's blood glucose level from dropping too low during the night.

Create a Meal Plan In the Metabolic Center

• The dietitian in the Metabolic Center will work with you to create an individual meal plan for your child.
• You and your child should meet with the dietitian at least once or twice each year to update the meal plan.
• Visits may need to be more frequent if problems arise.
• The meal plan will be adjusted depending on changes in your child's growth and development, school routines, seasonal sports or exercise and child care/daycare arrangements.
• A recipe book created for families to help them better understand the types of food and meals that they can prepare for their child who is on a low protein diet due to their metabolic disorder.

It is not always easy when a child or their family must adjust to certain diets. The child especially may not feel “normal” because he or she has to have a “special diet” and can’t eat the foods that his or her friends, peers and family do. The dietician will help the child and family learn new and fun ways to incorporate certain foods to make meals tasty and exciting. The social worker will also help your child adjust to their new diet and teach them ways to incorporate their new lifestyle while still being a normal child or teen.

It is important that your child’s school is prepared as well. The Metabolic Center’s dietician will help organize specific lunches and meals for home and for your child’s school.