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Type 1: 11 year old son who loves chocolates and sweets

Without wanting to sound to flippant but when I was that age my mum simply did not buy them and as a treat she might give us enough to buy a few bits and bobs of the penny tray. This was probably once per week.
 
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Interesting he prefers vegetables to fruit which means perhaps giving him an alternative snack say like a piece of cheese on an oatcake (simple carbohydrate) with a few celery/carrot sticks as an example. Pop it into a tuck box for school.

Sweets and chocolate especially are comfort foods. Maybe he's stressed about something .....
 
As far as I remember all the 11year old boys I have known will eat as much chocolate and sweets as anyone will buy them
CAROL
 
Hi @gustavowoltmann - I love your profile pic! I was 11 when I was diagnosed some 30 years ago, and (luckily) we didn't really tend to eat sweets and chocolates and biscuits and stuff, as a family, so there weren't massive changes that had to be made on that score.

Before I became diabetic my brother and I were each allowed to choose a tube of sweets (fruit Polos, Pacers, Opal Fruits - all those things that either no longer exist or have had their name changed to 'Starburst'!) from the newsagents when my dad bought the Sunday paper on our way home from Sunday school. We'd have them after lunch. Those were our only sweets of the week.

When I was diagnosed with diabetes my parents were advised that it was okay to have a couple of sweets as part of a meal, counted in my carbohydrate allowance, rather than in between meals. It was easier to cope with them blood-sugar-wise. And actually, after a while, I gradually noticed that sweets had been sort of 'phased out' of our family life!

These days (oh gosh, that makes me sound so old!) snacking is around us all the time - wherever we go, people are drinking cups of coffee, eating snacks here, there and everywhere, and it's very difficult to say no when other people are having chocolate, etc.

I would suggest that sweets and chocolate, in your house, perhaps become gradually only 'available' as pudding at mealtimes, and I'm sure that any existing chocolate habits of your son and indeed everyone else in your household can be gradually become less of the 'norm'. Going cold-turkey on them altogether might prove a bit of a strain, but if things gradually become less obviously available, that will I'm sure help.

If he's on a basal/bolus insulin regimen and is used to carb counting and adjusting his insulin doses according to what he's eating and when (I don't know if there is a DAFNE course for youngsters?), the odd treat can of course be treated with the right amount of insulin on an ad hoc basis.

Back to your question - how to get him to lose his appetite for chocolate and sweets - perhaps offer a wide range of alternatives that don't provide that huge spike in blood glucose. For the past few months I have been adopting a much lower carb and relatively higher fat diet to maintain steady blood glucose control, so my 'habit' is to eat hardboiled eggs, nuts, cheese by the truckload, and - dare I say it? - even a spoonful of pate - as snacks. Because eating those things has become so habitual, it is those things that I crave when I'm hungry, not sweets or chocolate. I don't have an appetite for sweets or chocolate (although I will often have a cup of Cadbury's Highlights hot chocolate at bedtime - 6g carbohydrate as it's sweetened artificially).

All the best to you and your son.

:)
 
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Ultimately it comes down to self control though, my parents restricted my treats but I would spend lunch money on sweets & chocolate from the corner shop. If you make them too 'forbidden' he may end up craving them even more, as children do with a lot of things, so it's got to be a balancing act. Certainly not easy but any progress you can make is good

Try getting sugar free chewing gum and see if that might take away the craving for that sweet 'hit'

I've found moving to dark chocolate has really helped me too - it's got less sugar/carbs than milk chocolate but most importantly (well for me anyway!!) it isn't as 'moreish' and I can just eat a bit of it rather than having a massive binge.

Another silly thing is to buy chewy sweets - I know I get fed up of chewing wine gums a lot quicker than jelly babies. It could reduce the amount a little.

Good luck, and if you find something that works do let us know!
 
When my kids were younger they had one day where they could have a packet of crisps and one day where they could have chocolate or sweets. Not for any dietary reasons, just that's all my budget would allow for us treat wise.
He can still enjoy his treats, just on a smaller scale now, bolusing for it and ideally after a high fibre meal to slow down it's transit into his blood stream.
 
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