Want the facts?  Check out the NDEP Diabetes Facts webpage.

http://www.ndep.nih.gov/diabetes-facts/index.aspx

http://www.jdrf.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewPage&page_id=BE230D09-1279-CFD5-A781BCE9D66E6061

Check out the Holidays and Special Events module of HealthSims Type 1 Diabetes Training for more tips!

Tip of the Week:

When your child has diabetes, you might feel that the only way to control things is to do everything yourself.  You might actually have better results by transitioning some responsibility to your child.  Here are some tips from  parents who have involved their child in the day-to-day diabetes responsibilities like carb counting and how they feel their children have “bought in.”  Find more like this in the HealthSims Type 1 Diabetes training course. 

My son knows how to count carbs for each meal.  He reads the nutrition label and knows where to find the serving size for the carbs.  He also knows his limit of carbs for each meal.  If you don’t stick to the diet planned, you will not be able to get your diabetes under control! - Melissa, mother of a 9 year old with diabetes

We taught our son how to read the food labels as soon as he was able to read.  We had him look at the “Total Carbs” section and the “Sugars” section on the label.  He knew he could not eat foods where the sugars were more than half of the total carbs for snacks – especially at bedtime.  We also taught him the same process for selecting a breakfast cereal.  They should be low in “Sugars” compared to “Total Carbs.” - Dana mother of a child diagnosed at age 3

Summer is here and so is vacation packing anxiety.  In addition to making sure you include swimsuits, sunscreen, and snorkle, if someone in your family has type 1 diabetes, you have a lot of other supplies to pack.  Here are some tips to ease your packing stress so you can concentrate on building sandcastles and snapping photos instead of stressing about where you packed the lancets.  Find more like this in the HealthSims Type 1 Diabetes training course. 

Pack insulin and other diabetes supplies across multiple people’s carry-on luggage, so that if someone loses a bag, you don’t lose all of your supplies.  Also, take copies of your prescriptions for critical supplies, and always bring with you the contact information for your physician(s), diabetes educator, clinic, and/or any other people who are involved in your diabetes care.

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thehumancondition/archive/2009/05/26/should-we-care-about-sonia-sotomayor-s-diabetes.aspx

Tip of the Week:

The end of school is here yet again, and naturally, there are lots of sweets and treats.  Here are some tips from a mother who has been through this quite a few times.  Find more like this in the HealthSims Type 1 Diabetes training course. 

Volunteer to bring the beverages for the party and select sugar free or bring a sugar free drink for your child only.  Or let your child pick “one sweet treat”  with some extra insulin for the end of year party, and bring the other items home for snacks when you can work them into your plan.  - Dana, mother of a son with diabetes

Tip of the Week:

There are lots of tricks to counting carbs, and the more you do it, the easier it is. 

Here’s a carb counting tip from a grandmother who has learned a lot about carb counting in the last seven years.  Find more like this in the HealthSims Type 1 Diabetes training course. 

My grandson likes his grilled cheese and other sandwiches with the crusts cut off.  Remember that doing that inpacts the carb count of the bread.  We figured out that cutting the crusts off our bread reduced the carbs from 16 a slice to 10 a slice by weighing the bread slice before and after. - Dee, grandmother of a child with diabetes

Tip of the Week:

As the weather warms and kids start dreaming about long summer days, parents of children with diabetes know there are some challenges in their not too distant future.  It isn’t easy keeping blood sugar numbers stabilized during long days at an amusement park or water park. 

Check out these tips about amusement parks and find more like these in the HealthSims Type 1 Diabetes training course.

Long ago I learned that some parks have special passes for people with medical conditions.  These passes make it possible for my daughter to not wait in line for a very long time.  You should check with the park when you arrive to see if they have something similar.  – Lisa, mother of a 15 year old with diabetes

Disney is great about helping people with type 1 diabetes.  My nephew got a guest assistance pass so he didn’t have to wait in long lines in the sun with his insulin pump.  They also had a very nice first aid station.  – Pennie, aunt of a type 1 diabetic

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/health/research/09fat.html?ref=health