Fear of Diabetes

Better Health. “Diabetes - Issues for Children and Teenagers.” Vic.gov.au, 2012, www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/diabetes-issues-for-children-and-teenagers.

I am researching what types of reasons children struggle with their type 1 diabetes. The goal for researching this is to know what I should make videos on so that the children can get the help that they need. Many children struggle with fear of how their life will change from the diagnosis, fear of the needles that they have to deal with, embarrassment of their diagnosis (feeling indifferent), and fear of hyper/hypoglycemia. These issues will lead them to feel like they are a burden to the family, getting a lot of questions from people around them, and being treated differently that draws attention to them. 

Children and teenagers will need to know a lot about glucose monitoring, dietary needs, and insulin calculations. This is why I want to initially focus on making videos on these specific topics. For glucose monitoring I want to make a video that starts to talk about the ranges kids should have in the morning, during the day, and before bedtime. I would also talk about the best times to check their blood sugars. The ranges that are the best in the morning are 80-95, in the afternoon, 100-130, and at night 100-150. These would be the ideal blood sugar ranges throughout the day. I would also talk about how to make corrections. Corrections are when the blood sugar is too high. However, corrections will be advised differently by each doctor. For example, if the correction is 1 unit for every 50bg, then if one has a blood sugar that is 200, then they should take either 1 or 2 units to bring the blood sugar down to the right range. 

I would also talk about dietary needs. Having type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes means that there should be a slight change in the diet of the child. It is best that this starts early rather than later because it can create a good habit in their diet. I would talk about how carbs and sugars are a small part of the diet, fruits are next, but protein and fibers should be something that they focus on. I also want to make a video on how getting diagnosed doesn’t mean one is sick or should be treated too differently, but I want them to understand that they are just the same as they were before, but with a different routine. I also want them to feel comfortable in their own skin because this has a huge toll on their mental health. I also want to talk about insulin calculations because this is a very important topic. However, every person will have different carbs to insulin ratios given by their doctor. For example a carb to insulin ratio could look like 1 unit of insulin for every 10 carbs. This means that if one eats something that has 35 carbs, they would have to take 3 1 ⁄ 2 units of insulin. As one grows, however, their carb to insulin ratios can change to accommodate their body size and weight.