Low Carbing and juveniles - good idea or not?

[ClaireJC]

I strongly recommend a low carb diet to anyone who asks, whether diabetics or friends trying to lose weight. I've done it myself before and saw huge improvements all round in a very short space of time. (fell off the wagon with a thump and only just got back on over a year later, but that's another story!)

I've been asked several times recently if this is suitable for children (11 years old was the youngest) to aide in blood sugar control.

I am not a healthcare professional, just a diabetic with lots of experience myself, so wouldn't want to offer the wrong advice ... Does anyone know the answer to this question?

It's pointless referring them to their DSN who has recommended the usual high carb diet and probably don't believe in low Carbing at all!!

 

[phoenix]

No, many young T1s develop a distorted relationship with food and subsequent eating disorders(all that counting and measuring) in anycase without adding to the problem with unnecessary extra restrictions on what they can and cannot eat. I won't go into why I also think a balanced diet includes all food groups, I've written far too much on here about this.
I would ask you to google
Buttercompartment Bernstein. This contains the views of another T1 who survived an eating disorder in her youth about why she is horrified by the thought of a 5 year old adopting a Bernstein diet.
There are several responses to the blog which add balance so you can see both sides of the issue.

 

[ams162]

hi
i personally wouldnt do it for my 9 year old he is active and a healthy weight i wouldnt want to restrict things furthur for him. he has a lifetime of controlling his diabetes ahead of him he is a child why make him feel anymore different to his peers than he already does. childhood should be full of happy memories for me im the one who has to worry what hes eating and weighing it all and i make sure its a balanced a diet as possible.

anna marie

 

[viviennem]

I think, if I had an overweight non-diabetic young teen, I might try to work out just for myself how many carbs the youngster was eating on a daily basis and compare it with the RDA for the age-group (anyone know what this is? say, for 8 to 12-year-olds?).

I then might try controlling their carbs, if too much was coming from crisps/choc/fizzy drinks, without making an issue of it but just going down the 'healthy eating' route and replacing eg with fruit. Also see if I could substitute Burgen bread for wheat bread, and avoiding the highest-carb breakfast cereals.

Difficult when they're growing, and when they're likely to do the opposite of what you suggest anyway, and when not everything they eat is under your control! But in my own experience, overweight teens, particularly if they get a lot of stick at school, are likely to be desperate for a solution. Much better to work on it together than anorexia.

I believe Atkins has a reference somewhere to a group of obese teenagers on a low-carb diet. I'll see if I can find it. It will work, but whether it's advisable is another matter.

On the other hand, provided it's not too extreme, and treats are allowed, a young diabetic might cope with it pretty well.

This really is "but what do I know?"

Viv 8)

 

[cugila]

One question I would ask is what do YOU call a low carb diet........many on here use different criteria as can be seen from our recent Poll but still call what they do a low carb diet ????

Just a thought.......

 

[Jen&Khaleb]

I think a lot of the time with kids it comes down to the amount of calories they need to consume in a healthy balanced diet. Even if they were over-weight it would be important to look at the calories eaten and the amount of exercise being done and not just looking at carbs.

As the pancreas fairy I can inject what insulin is required for the meal but to avoid lots of injections, and insulin stacking, my son's carbs/meals are spread through the day. Could my son quite possibly eat less carbs than the average child his age? This is probably true as I've seen some of the junk that other kids eat ... but low-carb - No, he would consume approx 140gm/day and is 4 years old. There are times that he may be on higher or lower carbs depending on what is happening with him. His last a1c was 6.0%. Not expecting that next time as he's just been sick for 2weeks of the last 4 and I've had a most dreadful time keeping his bsl's in check.

Anyway, I think controlled carbs are better than low/high carbs. Just my opinion. I also wonder what constitutes low carb and who really fits that mould. Is a low carb T1 very different from a low carb T2.

 

[stoney]

hi
i personally wouldnt do it for my 9 year old he is active and a healthy weight i wouldnt want to restrict things furthur for him. he has a lifetime of controlling his diabetes ahead of him he is a child why make him feel anymore different to his peers than he already does. childhood should be full of happy memories for me im the one who has to worry what hes eating and weighing it all and i make sure its a balanced a diet as possible.

anna marie

Here Here, Anna Marie, I could not have put it better myself :wink:

 

[catherinecherub]

One question I would ask is what do YOU call a low carb diet........many on here use different criteria as can be seen from our recent Poll but still call what they do a low carb diet ????

Just a thought.......

My thoughts exactly, seven years and I am still non the wiser. It seems to mean different things to different people. :roll:

Children's development is very important and IMHO all food groups should be incorporated in their diet.

 

[SophiaW]

RDA for the age-group (anyone know what this is? say, for 8 to 12-year-olds?).

I've struggled to find information to answer that question. The only site I've managed to find is this one http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/nutrit ... ds/NU00606 I use it as a rough guide but it all depends on how active the child is.

To answer the question, no I don't know the correct medical answer. But from my personal perspective I would never drastically reduce the amount of carbs my child eats. The amount of carbs Jess eats per day is at the lower end of the scale for her age in the link above, but it is still within the RDA. I strongly believe in a healthy, varied and balanced diet combined with exercise. The carbs we eat as a family are the slower acting starchy carbs, we avoid high sugar foods but occasionally do have a treat. There's nothing that Jess can't eat, but we do keep the portion sizes of sweet treats to a sensible size and don't indulge in these types of food too regularly.

 

[noblehead]

Claire,

Much as others have stated it's vital that a young child eats a well balanced diet to aid growth and to stay well, when they are old enough to decide for themselves then they can choose to low-carb or not.

Nigel

 

[ClaireJC]

Thanks for those comments guys. When I'm asked again, I will simply give the parent the link to this discussion. I love the way there are so many people with experience and opinions on this site. It helps make a more balanced judgement on things that you're struggling with.

Fab!