How beneficial to health do children and adolescents with early-onset type 1 diabetes eat after 10 years of diabetes?

Peer-reviewed | Manuscript received: September 16, 2015 | Revision accepted: November 06, 2015

A comparison with their peers in the general population

Introduction

Children with type 1 diabetes (depending on age) and their parents are regularly educated about the important issues in diabetes therapy. In the past, patients with type 1 diabetes had to adhere to a fixed meal schedule, but the medical advances of the last 15 years offer increasing flexibility in lifestyle and diet [1].

In principle, the same dietary recommendations now apply to people with type 1 diabetes as to people without any metabolic disorder [2]. They can decide freely on the time and amount of carbohydrates consumed, as long as this is factored in to the insulin dose administered. It therefore stands to reason that the dietary habits of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes who are following an intensified insulin therapy, have now aligned to those of their peers in the general population. This has not been the subject of major scientific study until now. The significance of most previous studies is limited due to low sample sizes. 

Summary

The average consumption of different food types by both study populations was determined by means of a standardized questionnaire on frequency of consumption and average portion size (Food Frequency Questionnaire [FFQ]). These study populations comprised 629 children and adolescents with early-onset type 1 diabetes of long duration and 6,813 participants of the same age in the representative KiGGS study (comparison group). Analysis of the data showed that, in spite of their unfavorable HbA1c levels, children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes had a better dietary pattern than their peers in the general population. They consumed more fruit and vegetables and fewer sugary drinks.

Keywords: diabetes mellitus type 1, dietary behavior, food intake, children and adolescents

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