Overview
When I was diagnosed with diabetes, I didn’t know anything about it. But the more I learned about diabetes, the better I was able to live my life just like other kids. Whether you are very young or a teenager, I can help you learn about diabetes, how to live with diabetes, and how to talk to other people about your diabetes.
Controlling
Blood Glucose
Funny
With Lenny
Kids
Nutrition
Kids
Activities
Overview
When I was diagnosed with diabetes, I didn’t know anything about it. But the more I learned about diabetes, the better I was able to live my life just like other kids. Whether you are very young or a teenager, I can help you learn about diabetes, how to live with diabetes, and how to talk to other people about your diabetes.
Controlling
Blood Glucose
Funny
With Lenny
Kids
Nutrition
Kids
Activities
Overview
When I was diagnosed with diabetes, I didn’t know anything about it. But the more I learned about diabetes, the better I was able to live my life just like other kids. Whether you are very young or a teenager, I can help you learn about diabetes, how to live with diabetes, and how to talk to other people about your diabetes.
Controlling
Blood Glucose
Funny
With Lenny
Kids
Nutrition
Kids
Activities
Controlling blood glucose
Treating type 1 diabetes also involves checking blood sugar levels regularly and responding to the results. Controlling blood sugar levels helps kids with diabetes feel well, grow and develop normally, and also reduces the risk of long-term diabetes complications.
The doctor also will let you know what your child’s target blood sugar levels are. In general, kids with type 1 diabetes should test their blood sugar levels with a blood glucose meter at least four times a day.
Depending on your child’s management plan and any problems that may arise, blood sugar levels could need to be tested more often.
The care team may recommend that your child use a continuous glucose monitor (CGM).
A CGM is a wearable device that can measure blood sugar every few minutes around the clock. It’s measured by a thread-like sensor that is inserted under the skin and secured in place.
A blood glucose meter or CGM measures the blood sugar level at the moment of testing. Another blood test, the glycosylated hemoglobin (hemoglobin A1c or HbA1c) test, shows how blood sugar levels have been running over the past 3 months.
Activity Book Pages
Click on the thumbnails below to open the large printable version.
Just because you have diabetes it doesn’t mean you can’t do all the same things as every other kid. You just have to plan ahead and be smart. My guides will help you plan for when you are doing activities so that you are safe and prepared. There are even some downloadable checklists to make sure you’ve planned right.
A good night’s sleep is important for your health just as it is important for me to get a good catnap. It recharges your body and mind and allows you to focus in school, be rested for sports, and be ready to hang out with friends at your best.
When you have diabetes, sleep also means that for 8 or 9 hours you may not be checking your blood sugar. This sometimes means that it will go way up and down and you might not know. Low blood sugar at night is very common and in the morning you may still feel tired. If you feel like this, it is important to tell a parent and your doctor, so you can find ways to stop it.
Swimming is great exercise for anyone, and if you have diabetes you can enjoy all the same fun water activities as other kids. Unlike most cats, I love swimming, but I'm smart about it. Like with any exercise, swimming can decrease your blood sugar levels so it is important to listen to your body and have a good snack or glucose tablets close by.
Before you get in the water, it is a good idea to tell the lifeguard that you have diabetes or remind your friends what to do if you get low blood sugar and start feeling tired or dizzy. If you have a diabetes ID bracelet, wear this when you swim as well.
If you have an 
pump, you may want to disconnect it when you swim. Some pumps are “waterproof” but you may not be able to go too deep or stay too long in the water, and if there are any scratches or cracks, the water may get inside anyway. I always take my pump off to swim. Talk to your doctor about guidelines for disconnecting your pump.
Sports are a lot of fun, and a great way to stay healthy. I play a lot of sports, but football is my favorite. Any type of exercise can make your blood sugar low (hypoglycemia) so it is important to pay attention to your body. Make sure that you or your parents talk to your coach about diabetes so that they understand your needs and can recognize any problems.
If you have an pump like me, you can adjust your basal for exercise or disconnect your pump during exercise. Both of these can help prevent hypoglycemia, but talk to your doctor to help decide what works best for you. I have some tips for playing sports, or you can download and print out a checklist to keep with your sports stuff to make sure you are always ready to play.
- Adjust
pump basal rate as recommended by your doctor - Check your blood sugar; eat a snack if needed to keep from going low
- Talk to your coaches and teammates; make sure they know about diabetes and how to treat hypoglycemia
- Water to stay hydrated
- Glucagon™ emergency kit
- Emergency contact number
- Blood glucose meter, supplies & batteries
- Medical information (diabetes bracelet or ID card)
- Juice, glucose tablets or other form of sugar to treat hypoglycemia
- Extra snacks to eat or drink during the game when needed (like juice or fruit)
- Check your blood sugar during and after playing
- If your blood sugars are high, make sure you don’t have ketones; playing with ketones can result in you becoming very sick (ketoacidosis)
- Stay hydrated while playing sports
- Have Fun!
We know that what you eat has a big impact on your diabetes and your health. When you have diabetes, you need to know how many carbohydrates you are eating to know how much 
to take. I’ll help you learn how to count carbs like I do. It’s also important to eat healthy foods to be a strong lion like me, so I will help you with that too.
We learned that carbohydrates affect the amount of that your body needs. You can find out how many grams of carbohydrates are in your food by looking at the label, by looking on a list, or by learning how many carbs are in the foods you eat. The amount of you need for each gram of carbohydrates is something your doctor can tell you. But the first step is learning how to count carbs. To help you do that, you can use the carbs calculator:
Carbohydrates may be the most important thing to keep track of when you have diabetes, but it is important to eat healthy foods if you want to grow up strong like me.
Foods that have a lot of fat aren’t so good for us. Of course, fatty foods are the ones that are often our favorites – like French fries, pizza, cake and ice cream. It doesn’t mean that we can’t ever eat these foods. It just means that we shouldn’t eat them all the time. Instead of always choosing a cheeseburger and fries, we should sometimes choose a turkey sandwich. Instead of always having chips, we should have our favorite vegetables. Instead of choosing ice cream, we should sometimes have fruit instead. Making healthy choices most of the time keeps you feeling good and keeps your body working well. My diabetes educator helps my parents and me work together to find more healthy foods that I like to eat. I bet yours can too.