Latest Health News

Carbohydrate is a part of food. Starch is a carbohydrate, so too are sugars and certain types of fibre. Starches are nature’s reserves created by energy from the sun, carbon dioxide and water. The building block of starch is glucose, a single sugar.

The simplest form of carbohydrate is a single sugar molecule. Chemically, this sugar molecule is known as a monosaccharide (mono meaning one, saccharide meaning sweet). Glucose is a single sugar molecule which occurs in foods and is the most common source of fuel for the cells of the human body.

If two sugar molecules are joined together, the result is a di-saccharide (di meaning two). Sucrose, or common table sugar, is a disaccharide.

Starches are long chains of sugar molecules joined together like the beads in a string of pearls. They are called polysaccharides (poly meaning many). Starches are not sweet to taste.

Dietary fibres also have a complex structure, containing many different sorts of sugar molecules. They are different from starches and sugars in that they are not broken down by human digestive enzymes. Fibre reaches the large intestine without change. Once there, bacteria begin to ferment and break down the fibres.

*13\33\4*

The following instructions are provided to help other people responsible for your child and a copy should be given to the school teacher and anyone else who is going to be responsible for him at times when he could have a hypo reaction.

Diabetes

With modern treatment a child with diabetes can live in perfect health with few restrictions of activities.

Treatment relies on daily injections of insulin, a carefully regulated diet, plenty of exercise and regular medical supervision. It is important that the child has his meals (including between meal snacks) on time, and it is usually desirable for him to have extra food or sugar before very vigorous sport, such as swimming or lengthy physical training. Beyond this he should lead as normal a life as possible and no differentiation should be made between him and other children. A child usually feels self-conscious about his diabetes and it is better not to draw undue attention to his condition. Discipline or punishment should not be different for a diabetic child except that he must not have delays in his meals, including morning and afternoon snacks.

Mealtimes for a person with diabetes can be adjusted to fit in with school routine. A child with diabetes should normally have her snacks at recess and lunch with the other children.

If the school does alter recess or lunch times, it will be helpful to warn the parents, as some adjustment in the diet or insulin may be necessary.

Even with a careful regimen, a child may have a reaction to his insulin – the so called hypoglycemic reaction or ‘hypo’. These instructions have been prepared as a guide for teachers and others if they should be responsible for a child during such a reaction.

Hypo reactions

A hypo reaction refers to the behaviour of a child when there is an over-effect of insulin.

Any unusual behaviour in a child known to have diabetes and having insulin, and who previously appeared to be normal, is most probably an insulin reaction, and treatment should be given for it at once. A child may have a different type of reaction on different occasions.

Early stages: (one or more signs may occur at the same time)

1. Unusual lack of concentration, and later listlessness or drowsiness

2. Pallor in a child who previously had a normal skin colour

3. Sweating which may not be appropriate to the weather

4. Undue stubbornness

5. Unusual difficulty in reading and perhaps in speech

6. Readiness to cry for no real reason

7. Headache

Very rarely, if appropriate treatment is not given, a reaction may become more severe.

Later stages: (most children never experience these signs, particularly if treatment for the early stages is prompt)

1. Inco-ordination of movements and unsteady gait

2. Twitching of face or limbs

3. Vomiting

4. Convulsion

5. Unconsciousness

The child may complain of any of the following: hunger, ‘jitters’, numbness and tingling of tongue and lips, double vision, headache, faintness, or sleepiness.

Time of reaction: Each type of insulin acts differently but most reactions in children occur in the hour before the meal time is due. They may occur during or after strenuous exercise.

*69/54/5*