What is diabetes?
Most of the things we eat have sugar in them. Sugar is not only a white or brown powder. In vegetables, fruit, bread, and pasta there are different types of sugar. Potatoes, rice, biscuits and many other things also have sugar in them.
Our bodies need all types of sugar to make energy for school, sports, playing, and having fun.
When you are finished eating, the sugar in the food you have eaten moves into your blood. The blood then carries the sugar around your body, passing it on to all your muscles. When the sugar is in the blood, it is called "blood sugar".
People who don’t have diabetes produce insulin. Insulin helps the body to use the sugar. When you have diabetes, your body has trouble using the sugar, because you don’t produce enough insulin yourself and you have to inject it. If you don’t get insulin you will feel very sick.
Once the doctors have found out that you have diabetes, it is important to start eating healthy food and to take your insulin right away. You should also measure your blood sugar often to see if everything is fine. The doctors will tell you and your parents when and how to do that.
What can I eat?
You can actually eat almost anything but you have to be careful about how much and when you eat.
You probably already know that you can only eat very little sweets, ice cream, cake, and candy.
You have to eat healthy things. Actually, it is no more than the things all of us should be eating to stay healthy. Things that are good are fruits, vegetables, bread, pasta, potatoes and meat and fish with very little fat.
Two things you have to be careful with are sugar and fat.